Hornets (31-31) at Celtics (41-20) Game #62 3/4/26

[FLCeltsFan]

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Charlotte Hornets (31-31) at Boston Celtics (41-20)
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #62 Home Game #30
TV:  NBCSB, FDSN, NBA-LP
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 92.7 WFNZ-FM, Sirius XM
TD Garden


Probable Celtics Starters
PG SG SFPF C
PG: Payton Pritchard
PG: Derrick White
SG: Baylor Scheierman
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Sam Hauser
C:  Neemias Queta

PG: Derrick White
SG: Baylor Scheierman
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Sam Hauser
C: Neemias Queta

Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Hugo Gonzalez
Luka Garza
Amare Williams
Nikola Vucevic
Jordan Walsh

2-Way Players
Ron Harper, Jr
Max Shulga
John Tonje

Injuries/Out
Jayson Tatum (Achilles) out

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Probable Hornets Starters
PGSGSFPFC
PG:  LaMelo Ball
SG:  Brandon Miller
SF:   Kon Knueppel
PF:   Miles Bridges
C:    Moussa Diabate

Hornets Reserves
Grant Williams
Sion James
Josh Green
Ryan Kalkbrenner
Pat Connaughton
Tre Mann
Tidjane Salaun
Liam McNeeley

2-Way Players
Tosan Evbuomwan
Antonio Reeves
PJ Hall

Injuries/Out 
Coby White (calf) probable

Head Coach
Charles Lee

Game Notes 
The Celtics host the Charlotte Hornets for the first of 3 meetings this season.  They will face each other in Charlotte on March 29 amd for the final time in Boston on April 7.  The Celtics are 81-46 overall all time against Charlotte and they are 43-20 in games played on Boston.   The Hornets are playing on the second night of back to back games after hosting the Mavericks on Tuesday night.  They are 8-4 in the second of back to back games. 

The Hornets have done a lot to upgrade their team since last season.  They traded Jusuf Nurkic to Utah for Collin Sexton.  They got Pat Connaughton from Milwaukee for Vasa Micic.  They traded Mark Williams to the Suns for the 29th pick in the 2025 draft.  At the trade deadline, they traded Ousmane Dieng and Collin Sexton for Coby White and Mike Conley, who they waived. 

They made 4 picks in the 2025 draft.  They picked Kon Knueppel with the 4th pick in the draft.  Knueppel is one of the frontrunners for Rookie of the year.  They picked Sion James with the 26th pick and they picked Ryan Kalkabrenner with the 34th pick.  They also picked Liam McNeeley with the 29th pick that they received in exchange for Mark Williams. 

The Celtics are 2nd in the East, 4.5 games behind 1st place Detroit. They are 2 games ahead of 3rd place New York , 3 games ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 5.5 games ahead of 5th place Toronto, 8 games ahead of 6th place Philadelphia and 9 games ahead of 7th place Orlando. The Celtics are 27-13 against Eastern Conference opponents. They are 20-9 at home and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They have won their last 3 games.

The Hornets are 9th in the East, 15 games behind 1st place Detroit, 3 games behind 6th place Philadelphia, 2 games behind 7th place Orlando, and 1.5 games behind 8th place Miami.  They are tied with 10th place Atlanta and 4 games ahead of 11th place Milwaukee.  They are 19-21 against Eastern Conference opponents.  They are 17-15 on the road and 7-3 in their last 10 games.  They have won their last 5 games. 

After this game against Charlotte, the Celtics will face Dallas at home before a tough 3 game road trip through Cleveland, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City. Then they host Washington, Phoenix and Golden State. Next, it is one game at Memphis before a 3 game home stand against Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Atlanta.

After this game at Boston, Charlotte will return home for one game against Miami before a 4 game road trip through Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, and San Antonio.  They then return home for a 7 game home stand where they will host Miami, Orlando, Memphis, Sacramento, New York, Philadelphia and Boston. 

At this time, it looks as though both teams will be at mostly full strength.  There have been many rumors that Jayson Tatum will return for this game or for Friday's game against Dallas before their road trip but at this time, he is listed as out.  Jaylen Brown and Neemias Queta are both off the injury report after missing Monday's game.  For Chicago, Coby White missed Tuesday's game for injury management but is likely to play in this game.

Key Matchups
vs
Baylor Scheierman vs Brandon Miller
Miller is averaging 21 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.  He s shooting 42.7% from the field and 37.6% from beyond the arc.  He is coming off a win over the Mavericks where he finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks while shooting 60% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. 

vs
Derrick White vs LaMelo Ball
Ball is averaging 19.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.  He is shooting 40.1% from the field and 36.5% from beyond the arc.  On Tuesday against the Mavericks, he finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals, and 1 block while shooting 26.3% from the field and 30.8% from beyond the arc.  He is quick and always a threat to steal the ball. 

Honorable Mention
Jaylen Brown vs Kon Knueppel
Knueppel is averaging 19.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.  He is shooting 48.9% from the field and 44.0% from beyond the arc.  Against the Mavericks on Tuesday, he finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block while shooting 42.9% from the field and 14.3% from beyond the arc. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense is always the key to winning.  The Celtics are 5th the league with a defensive rating of 111.6. The Hornets are 17th in the league with a defensive rating of 114.5.  The Hornets are 4th with an offensive rating of 117.5 while the Celtics are tied for 1st with an offensive rating of 120.3.   The Celtics defense has been improving as the season has gone on.  They need to continue to make defense a priority and play lock down defense in this game against a very good offensive team. 

Rebound - Rebounding is important to give the Celtics extra possessions and to limit possessions for their opponents.  Rebounding takes effort and the Celtics need to give extra effort to beat the Hornets to rebounds.  The Celtics are 6th with 46.2 rebounds per game and the Hornets are 5th with 46.3 rebounds per game. The Hornets are tied for 3rd with the Celtics with both averaging  17.3 second chance points per game and the Celtics need to limit those for the Hornets by putting more effort into grabbing rebounds. 

Don't Underestimate the Hornets -  The Hornets may just be at .500 but they have been playing very well recently.  Not long ago they had a 9 game win streak and are currently on a 5 game win streak. They are near the top of the league in most offensive stats and can also play defense.  They already have wins against top teams like OKC, Denver, San Antonio and Houston.  The Celtics can't take them lightly and have to give maximum effort to beat this team. 

3 Point Shooting - The Celtics are 2nd in the league, averaging 42.5 three pointers per game. The Hornets are 4th, shooting 42 threes per game.  The Celtics are shooting 36.5% as a team from beyond the arc while the Hornets are shooting 37.8% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics make 15.5 threes a game while the Hornets make 15.9 thees a game. The Celtics need to work to get open and move the ball to find the best shots. If the 3's aren't falling, they need to take the ball inside. And they need to defend the perimeter or the Hornets will bury them in threes. 

X-Factors
Home Game and Fatigue - The Celtics need to feed off the energy of the crowd and hopefully, the Hornets will be distracted by travel and the hostile crowd.  The Celtics should protect their home court and play harder because of it.  The Hornets are playing on the second night of back to back games and so fatigue could come into play for them down the stretch. 

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.