Celtics Look to Pile On Shorthanded Hornets: Starters, Injury Report and a Prediction

The Celtics visit the injury-riddled Hornets in an NBA Cup group game Friday. Starters, injury report, three keys and a prediction for Boston vs. Charlotte.

Apr 7, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) returns the ball against Charlotte Hornets guard Sion James (4) in the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Boston Celtics continue their NBA Cup group schedule Friday in Charlotte. The Hornets have lost five straight, and are dealing with a bunch of injuries.

Records: Celtics 6-2 (5-0 home, 1-2 road); Hornets 3-6 (2-3 home, 1-3 road)

Broadcast details

Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. ET, Spectrum Center, Charlotte
TV: NBC Sports Boston, NBA League Pass

Projected Starters

Celtics: Derrick White, Paul George, Hugo Gonzalez, Jayson Tatum, Neemias Queta
Hornets: Sion James, Coby White, Brandon Miller, Naz Reid, Ryan Kalkbrenner

Officials:

Tony Brothers (#25), Marat Kogut (#32), Brent Haskill (#92)

Injury report

Celtics: Payton Pritchard (right eye abrasion) is available.
Hornets: Grant Williams (hamstring) and Kon Knueppel (leg), Dennis Schröder (thigh), and Moussa Diabaté (quad) are all out.

Here's your full-season Celtics guide, with the full roster, schedule, salaries, and more.

Season Series

This is the first of four meetings between the teams this season.

The Teams Coming In

Boston beat Milwaukee 109-102 at home without Jayson Tatum, who was resting. The Celtics lost a 22-point lead but held on late. Two days earlier the Celtics lost 109-93 in Houston. The Celtics are eighth in offense, seventh in defense, and have a +6.6 net rating.

Charlotte has lost five straight, most recently a 114-104 loss in Brooklyn on Wednesday and a 124-91 home loss to Detroit two nights before that. Their offense is currently last in the league, and their defense is 19th, giving them a -11.2 net rating.

Three Keys to the Game

Turnovers: The Hornets 20.1% turnover rate is the worst in the NBA, and the 21.9 points off turnovers opponents score off those turnovers is third-worst. The Celtics are one of the best in the league in forcing turnovers, so this has a recipe for getting out of hand quickly.

Holding onto a lead: The Hornets offense is awful, and Boston’s defense is good. This a recipe for another big Boston lead. And while every team makes a run, it would be nice if Boston was able to hold onto the lead for once. We’ll be watching the late lineups to see if the trend of struggles around the 9:00-7:00 minute mark of the fourth continues.

Keep Brandon Miller inefficient: Miller’s true shooting percentage is down to 47% because he’s awful from three (26.7%) and just as bad from two (45.7%)

Keep him out of the corner and contest him at the rim. That's the formula. The Hornets don’t have many other options right now outside of Coby White and Naz Reid, so keep Miller off balance and things should be fine.

Prediction

More than anything, I’m looking for Boston’s guards to get their shooting touch back. If the Celtics do, in fact, start Queta, he might be enough to free up shooters and create some vertical space.

On top of that, Jayson Tatum loves playing in Charlotte so he can put on a show for his Duke fans. And because this is a cup game, there's incentive to keep piling it on, so I think this one goes down as a Boston blowout, 121-96.

Make sure you come back for postgame coverage here on Celtics On SI, and on the Locked On Celtics podcast.

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