The Celtics ran into the NBA's hottest team in the Charlotte Hornets and suffered their worst loss of the season with a 118-89 beatdown Wednesday night at TD Garden.
Despite Derrick White leading all scorers with 29 points and Jaylen Brown adding 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists -- the Celtics couldn't get much offense going otherwise as they shot 38% from the field, including 10-of-36 (28%) from behind the three-point arc to fall to 41-21 for the season.
"That wasn't Celtics basketball," Brown told reporters. "They had more energy than us. Usually, that doesn't happen a lot all season long. Today wasn't the best example of Celtics basketball, and we all can be better. Being the leader, I take accountability."
Rookie of the Year candidate Kon Knueppel led the Hornets with 20 points on 7-of-14 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3, while LeMelo Ball and Brandon Miller each netted 18 points and Coby White added 17 points off the bench for Charlotte -- who improved to over .500 (32-31) for the first time since October 26 and are riding a six-game win streak.
The Celtics trailed 8-0 out of the gate and never climbed out a hole, missing their first eight shots. Charlotte, playing on a second-night of a back-to-back, never trailed and led by as many as 29 while committing only five turnovers.
The visiting team also hit 41-of-89 (46%) from the floor, including 19-of-49 (39%) from deep to go along with 10 steals that turned into 22 fast-break points.
Boston playing their sixth game in nine days, turned the ball over 16 times, which led to some boo's from the home crowd at various moments when a turnover was committed during the contest.
"We just didn't have it tonight," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said in his postgame comments. "We went 4-for-18 from layups, so I don't really know what else to tell you. That was in the first half. We went 11-for-33 in the game, and brought it up to 33 percent."
The Celtics will host the Dallas Mavericks (21-40) Friday night and ESPN has the tip-off at 7:00 pm ET.
Game Notes:
Boston won the rebound battle 45-43 and surprisingly outscored the Hornets in the paint 38-32. Charlotte dished out 26 assists on 41 baskets while the Celtics had only 18 dimes on 30 made baskets.
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