Tatum Dominates as Celtics Crush Hornets: 5 Things the Box Score Won't Tell You

Jayson Tatum scored 34 in three quarters as the Celtics buried the Hornets 119-80 to go 2-0 in the NBA Cup. Here’s what the box score won’t tell you.

Nov 6, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) reacts to a play during the first half against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Boston Celtics stormed out of the gates on a 9-0 run that extended to 18-4 and never looked back. The Hornets never led, and they never had a chance. Jayson Tatum put on his usual show for the Dukies in the crowd, and the Celtics buried Charlotte under an avalanche of three-pointers on their way to a 119-80 win. They are now 2-0 in the NBA Cup.

The blowout was so bad that it took Charlotte until the 2:49 mark of the fourth quarter to surpass Boston’s 70 first-half points.

Box Score

WHAT THE BOX SCORE TELLS YOU

- Jayson Tatum was on fire: He had a typical Tatum-in-Charlotte game, putting up 34 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds while sitting out the fourth quarter. It was a nearly perfect game from Tatum, who shot 9-16 overall and 5-8 from three. He also went to the line 11 times without missing.

- A lot of cold streaks ended: Tatum needed the 5-8 shooting to start rebuilding his three-point percentage. He, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard were all shooting 31% or less from three this season, so this one game drastically improved everyone’s percentages. Tatum’s increased 6 percentage points, White’s 4.7, and Pritchard’s 4.4. 

- Mitchell Robinson was better: He had three offensive rebounds, caught three lobs, and had a positive impact. 

WHAT THE BOX SCORE DOESN’T TELL YOU

- Neemias Queta plays with so much energy: I’ve been advocating for Robinson to start games, but I think I’m ready to dump that take at this point. Few of the things I’d hoped Robinson could provide have come to fruition so far, and Queta plays with the energy and IQ Joe Mazzulla is looking for. Queta is always looking for the next screen to set, and he gets in and out of things incredibly well. 

I think starting with Queta sets the tone, and it’s up to Robinson to match it. 

- Tatum was reading the game so well:  Tatum has never read the game with the ease with which he’s reading things now. This play was beautiful because he was the quintessential quarterback looking off a defender so he could hit his intended receiver.

Jordan Walsh dunk and 1 off the Jayson Tatum assist pic.twitter.com/SVsrKopyxL

— Danielle H. (@DanielleHobeika) November 7, 2026

Beautiful stuff. The nine assists were effortless. He’s making almost all the right plays every night.

- Brandon Miller left in the second quarter: He left with groin soreness and didn’t return, just in case anyone was wondering why he only played 13:46. Charles Lee didn’t bench his star after another slow start, though I bet some fans in Charlotte might be wondering if that’s a good idea.

- The third quarter was almost the start of another letdown: I was right with Brian Scalabrine during the broadcast, yelling at the Celtics to wake up. They seemed to be playing at about 75% of what they were in the first half, and it was letting the Hornets get some easy opportunities. Charlotte was ice-cold, though, and the Celtics couldn’t pass up opportunities to run off those misses, so they got back to being themselves fairly quickly.

But things could have been much different if the Hornets hit a few shots. 

- There were a lot of airballs: Like, an inordinate amount of them. I don’t think it got to double-digits, but it wasn’t far off. You might not see that many the rest of the season.

REVISITING THE PREVIEW

Here are my three pregame keys for Boston. Let’s see how I did. 

“Turnovers: The Hornets’ 20.1% turnover rate is the worst in the NBA, and the 21.9 points 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.” 

It indeed got out of hand very quickly, but turnovers were not the reason. Boston only had nine points off turnovers at halftime. The Hornets simply could not make a shot, and the Celtics ran off those misses. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Celtics ran off about 40% of live rebounds, which is 80th percentile in the NBA. 

“Holding onto a lead: The Hornets offense is awful, and Boston’s defense is good. This is 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.”

There was no letdown, though as I mentioned earlier, there could have been had the Hornets cashed in on Boston’s sloppiness to start the third. Boston kept on building their lead, and the Hornets never found their groove.

“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.”

He was 3-10, 0-3 from three, when he left the game in the second. The Celtics lost him a couple of times in the paint, but mostly they kept him out of his comfort zone.

“Prediction: 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.”

Tatum did put on a show. The Celtics kept the roll going and built a massive point differential. And I gave the Hornets way too much credit. But in the world of predictions, 119-80 is pretty close.