Boston Celtics Player Grades After Beating Charlotte Hornets In Home Preseason Finale

This is likely the last game of the preseason for the regulars, so here's a look at how they did.

Oct 14, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Royce O'Neale (00) guards Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics moved to 3-0 in the preseason with a 114-93 win over the Charlotte Hornets. This is very likely the last preseason game for most of the regulars, so here’s a look at how they did. 

Starters

Jayson Tatum (19 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl): A

He played another full first quarter, shooting 5-9 on his way to 11 points, two rebounds, and two assists. He continues to look great, and his timing with Mitchell Robinson is getting better. Both of those assists were lobs to Robinson, and he added another lob later. 

Tatum is back to his usual self, and with added responsibility as the lone superstar, I think it’s giving him more of a chance to pick his spots. One side effect of the Jaylen Brown trade might just be Tatum feeling like he can bide his time and not have to take every opportunity to score. We’ll see how this concept plays out. 

Paul George (5 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl): C+

A similar start to this game as the last one, with a cold shooting start (0-5 in the first quarter), but some highlight defensive plays. This one in the third quarter was pretty nice. 

Oh OK Paul George pic.twitter.com/tuu3d3MQVQ

— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) October 15, 2026

George did get beat off the dribble a few times, so it wasn’t all great defense, but he’s also racking up the steals this preseason. His shot never came around this time (2-10 fg, 1-7 3pt), but he still did other things. 

Still, I can’t shake seeing that -6 in a game Boston the whole way and won by 21. 

Mitchell Robinson (12 pts, 7 reb, 3 blk): A-

The chemistry is starting to click, which isn’t a shock. Robinson continues to be an elite offensive rebounder and rim protector. Once he cleans up a few things offensively and advances as a dynamic center, he could hit another level.

He ran out of gas halfway through the third quarter, though, after 14 total minutes of play. Maybe it was him being more involved in the offense than he’s used to, but Robinson probably needs to improve his cardio a bit. 

"I'm in a lot of actions on the offensive side,” Robinson said after the game. “[In New York], I was just like set one screen then roll then they'll be going on the other side and maybe come back. But like, this I'm in like every action. I'm setting a flare, pindown, ball screen. Whatever. I'm just absolutely moving."

Derrick White (17 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl): A-

He started to feast in the second quarter. It was good to see him get into takeover mode for a little while. This was a nice do-it-all kind of game. 

Jordan Walsh (2 pts, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk): B

Solid performance even though he didn’t fill the stat sheet. I don’t think he’s going to be a starter when the season rolls around, but he’s a viable option to start when the team needs a defensive boost. 

Bench

Payton Pritchard (7 pts, 3 reb, 11 ast): A

The shot will fall (3-11 fg, 1-4 3pt) but Pritchard gets an A for using his shiftiness and crazy ball-handling to open up the floor for his teammates.

“He's a great driver,” Hornets head coach Charles Lee said of Pritchard. “As soon as he picks the ball up, you're like, ‘Oh, OK, I got him,’ but then he's got great footwork after the dribble.” 

That footwork is what puts defenders in a blender, and where Pritchard capitalizes to rack up stats, in this case assists. 

Neemias Queta (16 pts, 1 reb): A-

The variety of his shots was wild in this one. Look at this heat map of his shots and scoring.

NBA.com

Compare that to last season. 

NBA.com

“I think the best version of Neemi gives us a little bit of playmaking opportunities and being able to make plays off the dribble in the seam,” Mazzulla said. 

Queta looks really good this preseason. REALLY good. 

Sam Hauser (6 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl): B

There are some nights where he’ll contribute by hitting six three-pointers, and there are some that’ll be more nuanced. I think he is a key component in the double-big lineups, whenever they decide to go back to them, because of how much they need the floor spacing. Just his presence will be enough. 

Baylor Scheierman (5 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast): B

He had a nice first-quarter sequence where he lofted a pass over the defense to get an assist to Tatum, and then he executed a perfect closeout on a corner shooter that forced a dribble and a three-second violation because the shot didn’t go up. Other than that, a mostly quiet night.

Luka Garza (14 pts, 1 reb, 3 stl): B

He scored 11 of his points after the rest of the team was done for the night. The three steals were pretty big, too, as it was Garza’s group that finished the Hornets off.

Hugo Gonzalez (5 pts, 1 reb, 2 ast): B-

He and Garza were both +11, mostly because of the fourth quarter explosion. I’m guessing Gonzalez played less than nine minutes because he’ll be starting on Friday and playing big minutes in Philadelphia.