CHARLOTTE (AP) – Jayson Tatum scored 17 of his 33 points in a pivotal third quarter, Malcolm Brogdon added 30 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets 122-106 yesterday to push their winning streak to six.
Al Horford had 16 points and Marcus Smart added 13 points and 12 assists for the Celtics, who made 19 three-pointers and erased a 16-point, first-half deficit.
LaMelo Ball finished with 31 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for Charlotte. Terry Rozier had 21 points for the Hornets, who’ve lost seven of eight games.
“They’re terrific,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said of the Celtics. “They’re good enough to win it. They can score in bunches. But there’s a reason they’re top eight in both offence and defence. You can’t have a bad three, four minutes. That makes it hard.” The loss was the fourth straight for the Hornets (11-33), who have the second-worst record in the league.