Celtics can’t stand Hornets’ sting, fall to Charlotte 125 – 104

The Boston Celtics got punched in the mouth early by the Charlotte Hornets and never really recovered, falling to the Hornets 125 – 104 on the road Sunday afternoon.

Charlotte jumped out to an early, big lead in the first quarter, nearly winning wire-to-wire with a barrage of 3-point shots despite being down several key rotation players. Boston, healthy apart from starting center Robert Williams III, looked disengaged on defense early, and unable to maintain a consistent focus throughout the game. The Celtics allowed the Hornets to shoot 50.5% from the floor and 48.8% from beyond the arc while connecting on only 38.6% of their shots from the floor overall.

Jaylen Brown led the team with 20 points and 8 rebounds, with Kemba Walker close behind with 20 points and 6 boards, while Jayson Tatum put up 19 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

With Boston dropping the matinee to Charlotte, they now fall to 32 wins and 29 losses on the season, good enough for a statistical tie with the Miami Heat with tiebreakers placing them in the East’s sixth-place spot for the moment.

The team next faces the Oklahoma City Thunder at TD Garden on Tuesday, April 27 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time before a home rematch with Charlotte on Wednesday.