Celtics (4-1) at Hornets (2-2) Game #6 11/1/24

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Boston Celtics (4-1) at Charlotte Hornets (2-2)
Friday, November 1, 2024
7:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game [HASH]6 Road Game [HASH]4
TV: NBCSB, BSSE-CHA, NBA-LP
Radio: Sirius XM, 98.5 Sports Hub, WFNZ 92.7
Spectrum Center



Probable Celtics Starters
PG SG SFPF C
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Al Horford

Celtics Reserves
Luke Kornet
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh

2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anton Watson

Injuries/Out
Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) out
Sam Hauser (back) probable

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla


Probable Starters
PGSGSFPFC
PG: LaMelo Ball
SG: Seth Curry
SF: Josh Green
PF: Miles Bridges
C: Nick Richards

Hornets Reserves
Grant Williams
Nick Smith, Jr
Cody Martin
Vasa Micic
Tre Mann
Tidjane Salaun
Taj Gibson

2 Way Players
Moussa Diabate
KJ Simpson
Jared Rhoden

Injuries/Out
DaQuan Jeffries (hand) out
Mark Williams (foot) out
Brandon Miller (glute) questionable

Head Coach
Charles Lee

Game Notes
The Celtics head to Charlotte for back to back games against the Hornets. The Celtics are coming off their first loss of the season to the Indiana Pacers, the Celtics Eastern Conference Finals opponent. Charlotte is 2-2 on the season, beating Houston and Toronto and losing to Atlanta and Miami.

This is the first meeting between these two teams this season. They will meet again on Saturday in back to back games, also in Charlotte. They will close out the series in Boston on April 11 and 13. The Celtics won the series 2-1 last season, Winning their only game in Boston and winning one and losing one ni Charlotte. The Celtics are 77-46 overall all time against the Hornets and 36-26 in games played in Charlotte.

The Celtics stood pat for the most part in the off season, bringing back their entire core of players and losing just Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett. They added Baylor Scheierman, who was the 30th pick in the draft and signed 2nd round pick, Anton Watson to a 2 way contract. They have also added a couple of chips on their shoulder after a couple of Olympic snubs.

The Charlotte Hornets' new ownership has been busy in the off season, hiring a new head coach, general manager and team president. Former Celtics assistant coach Charles Lee is the new Hornets head coach. The team drafted French forward Tidjane Salaün 6th and KJ Simpson 42nd. They also signed center Taj Gibson and guard Seth Curry as free agents.

For the Celtics, Sam Hauser is listed as probable as he deals with back soreness. They will also once again be without Kristaps Porzingis, who is still rehabbing from off season ankle surgery. The Hornets will be without DaQuan Jeffries who is out with a hand injury and Mark Williams who is out with a foot injury. Neither has played yet this season. Brandon Miller is questionable with a glute injury.

Key Matchups
vs
Jrue Holiday vs LaMelo Ball
Ball has been playing very well this season, averaging 28.5 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He is shooting 42.7% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc. He will be tough to slow down but if anyone can, it is the Celtics defensive back court.

vs
Payton Pritchard vs Tre Mann
This is a matchup of key subs off the bench who both shoot the 3 very well. Mann is averaging 20.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 44.6% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc. Pritchard is averaging 16.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 45.6% from the field and 46.9% from beyond the arc.

Honorable Mention
Jayson Tatum vs Miles Bridges
Tatum is coming off a game where he scored 37 points, but shot just 40% from the field and 27.8% from beyond the arc on 18 tries. The Celtics need him to be more efficient in this one. Bridges is averaging 15 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1 block per game. He is shooting 39.6% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense is always the key to winning. It was a lack of defense that dug a 23 point hole against the Pacers and it was good defense that got them back into the game and forced overtime. The Celtics are 11th with a defensive rating of 111.5. The Hornets are 29th with a defensive rating of 118.7. The Hornets are 4th in scoring with 118.5 points per game. The Celtics are 1st in 3 point attempts with 42.4 and 2nd in 3 point percentage at 40.7%. The Hornets are 4th with 44 three point attempts per game and 5th in 3 point percentage at 39.2%. The Celtics need to especially guard the Hornets on the perimeter.

Rebound - Rebounding is important to give the Celtics extra possessions and to limit possessions for their opponents. The Celtics are averaging 43 rebounds per game (18th) while the Hornets are averaging 48.3 rebounds (3rd). Rebounding takes effort and the Celtics need to give extra effort to beat the Hornets to rebounds. The Hornets are 1st with 22.8 second chance points per game and the Celtics need to limit those by putting more effort into grabbing rebounds.

Maximum Effort for 48 Minutes - The Celtics effort for the first 3 quarters against the Pacers left much to be desired, landing them in a 23 point hole. They finally found some energy and effort in the 4th quarter and battled back to force overtime. The Celtics effort in their previous 2 games was good at times and not so good at other times. The Celtics have to give max effort on the boards and on defense and they have to give that effort for the entire game and not just 1 or 2 quarters.

Bench Play - The Hornets have 3 players off the bench who are shooting over 40% from the perimeter. Tre Mann (20.5 points, 42.9% from three), Cody Martin (11.5 points, 42.1% from three) and Grant Williams (10.3 points, 47.4% from three) The Celtics reserves need to come into the game and play hard on the defensive end to limit their 3 point shooting. They also need to produce on the offensive end.

X-Factors
On The Road - The Celtics are playing in their 4th game on the road this season. The Celtics are facing the distractions of travel and a hostile crowd and they can't allow those distractions to take away from their focus on the game. On the other hand, they have the motivation of having lost their last game due to poor play on their part to balance out the distractions of playing on the road.

Officiating - Officiating is always an x-factor. Every crew calls the game differently. Some call it tight and call every bit of contact while others allow more physical play. Some favor the home team while others call both sides evenly. The Celtics have to adjust to the way the refs are calling the game and not allow no calls and bad calls to affect their focus on playing the game.

[CelticsLoyalist]

Yesterday's loss is no big deal to me. While the Regular Season doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, mostly for teams like us who will definitely make the playoffs, I am not worried about losing to good teams if we are on cruise control. All that matters to me is we stay healthy get a good playoff spot and play like champions when it matters.

Looking for a bounce back game tonight and I hope we tighten up a bit without risking our stars health.

[CelticsLoyalist]

I think the game plan tonight should be no Luke and Tillman on the floor together. This combo is a disaster and doesn't make any sense. I am sure Joe already has this and these other points I am about to make, figured out.

But in any case, here are my observations and tweaks I think we should make:

I would like to see Queta get the next up after Horford or if we are resting Al maybe give Queta the start. Maybe. I am still thinking we should start Luke.

Also, I would like to see Tillman and Walsh combos out there at the same time. As well as Queta/Walsh combo on the floor at the same time. If Kornet isn't going to be aggressive on the offensive end and be a foul liability on the defensive end, then we should at the least try Queta and experiment and see how lineups with any combo of Tillman, Queta, Walsh work. The numbers seem to suggest those combos are working.

I've been a pretty big advocate for Luke thinking he was the better option to replace KP but the sample size I've seen seems to suggest he isn't as productive as I thought and Queta has been outplaying him in the limited minutes. Luke just isn't being aggressive enough for me.

To summarize, if Horford is on a rest day, start Luke, then limit his minutes the rest of the way in favor of Queta and Tillman plus make sure Walsh also gets some run.