Boston Celtics sting Hornets: 3 studs in awesome win vs Charlotte

The Boston Celtics won against the Charlotte Hornets 126-117 on Friday night.

The Celtics have won their previous two games against the 76ers and Pistons.

This was the first game since the Jaylen Brown suffered a maxillary facial fracture in the win against the 76ers on Wednesday in which his timetable for return will be unknown until next week.

Also missing for the Celtics were Al Horford for the 2nd straight game and Marcus Smart for the 9th straight game.

However, Robert Williams is back after missing Wednesday’s game with a left ankle sprain and Malcolm Brogdon was probable with a right Achilles soreness, but still played in the game.

This was the first game for the Celtics since the NBA Trade deadline, in which they went for center Mike Muscala in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder for Justin Jackson and two future second round picks on Deadline day. Muscala had a decent debut with 12 points off the bench with all four being three-pointers.

The Celtics made 25 three-pointers against the lowly Charlotte Hornets, which fueled this win. The Celtics completed the 4-0 sweep against the Charlotte Hornets this season with this win.

Here are three studs in Friday night’s victory over the Hornets.

1. Jayson Tatum exceeded his usual point totals for the Celtics

Jayson Tatum scored 41 points in the win against the Hornets and that would be his 8th 40+ point game this season. Tatum also had four rebounds and four assists. The last time he scored 40+ points was in the January 16th win against the Charlotte Hornets in which he scored 51 points.

Tatum hit 5 three-pointers, and one of them was his 1,000th career three-pointer. He became the youngest player to reach 1,000+ three-pointers at 24 years, 344 days old, he also became the first one to hit 1,000 three-pointers before age 25.

Tatum had big shoes to fill because of Brown being out with the facial injury, but his teammates were able to help him spread the floor.

2. Celtics guard Derrick White hit everything

Derrick White scored a regular-season career-high 33 points and dished out 10 assists in the game for a double-double. His career high came when he scored 36 points in Game 3 of the 2019 Western Conference Quarterfinals when he was on the San Antonio Spurs and they faced the Denver Nuggets.

White made his first eight shots and hit eight three-pointers in the game. He scored 26 out of the 33 points and made seven three-pointers. The three-pointers are tied most in a 1st Half in Celtics history, he’s tied with former Hornet Kemba Walker, when he made 7 in the Second Half of a November 11, 2019 win against the Dallas Mavericks, which was the team that just waived him in January.

White also had 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal in the game. White became the first player in NBA History to hit eight three-pointers, dish out 10 assists, and block 3 shots all in one game.

3. Sam Hauser fills in decently for Jaylen Brown

Sam Hauser started at shooting guard in the place for Jaylen Brown. Hauser scored 12 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out three assists. The three assists tied a career high for Hauser as he also had three assists in two games last season against the 76ers and Wizards.

Also, this is his third straight game scoring 10+ points for the Celtics, as previously never had back-to-back games with 10+ points.

Look for Hauser to get more starts and more playing time if Brown is out for an extended period of time and if Smart is still out for a while.

Their next game will be on Sunday Afternoon at TD, when they go face the Memphis Grizzlies for a 2:00 pm tip off on ABC.