Breaking Down the No. 1 Key to a Hornets' Victory Against Celtics

The Charlotte Hornets did something earlier this month that they had not done since November of 2023: They beat the Boston Celtics. And not only that, they demolished them by 118-89 at TD Garden.

But that was without Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum, who has since returned from an ACL tear. So, will tonight's 6 pm matchup at Spectrum Center be any different? Let's dive in and find out!

Today's opponent: The Boston Celtics (49-24, 2nd in the East)

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) celebrates during the fourth quarter of their win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at TD — Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

Even in the absence of Tatum, the Celtics have managed to stay the course, at least up until this part of the season. That's because almost everyone on the team has stepped up.

Jaylen Brown is having a career year that saw him even pop up as a borderline MVP candidate, with averages of 28.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game.

Derrick White and Payton Pritchard have been his co-stars, and trade-deadline acquisition Nikola Vucevic was also a solid contributor until he fractured his right ring finger.

Before Vucevic's arrival, Neemias Queta and Luka Garza had done an admirable job filling the gap left by Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. The pair was touted as one of the league's worst center rotations initially, but Queta in particular surprised quite a lot of people, similarly to Moussa Diabate.

The Celtics' rotation is completed by a bunch of sturdy wings, including Sharpshooter Sam Hauser and Spanish rookie Hugo Gonzalez. Luckily for the Hornets, the Celtics won't be able to make use of their surprising depth as much today:

The injury report:

Boston Celtics: OUT - Nikola Vucevic (R Ring Finger) QUESTIONABLE - Jaylen Brown (L Calf), Jayson Tatum (Injury Management), Derrick White (R Knee), Neemias Queta (R Thumb)

Charlotte Hornets: NOT YET SUBMITTED

Key to the game: Someone needs to step up defensively

The Celtics and Hornets are similar teams in a lot of statistical categories. They both rebound the ball very well, they take lots of threes, and they don't get to the free-throw line all that much. But the scoring distribution between players is quite different.

Whereas LaMelo and Co. share the ball a lot and often have lots of guys in double-digits, Boston really focuses in on their best scorers and rides them.

The best example of that came in the meeting earlier this month, where the Celtics ended up with only two double-digit scorers, compared to the Hornets' four. Derrick White scored 29 points on 9 of 17 shooting, and Jaylen Brown netted 20 points on 7 of 19 shooting.

In all likelihood, at the very least, one of Brown or Tatum will take the court this evening. It will be imperative that Charles Lee finds someone on his team to keep either one or both of them under control as much as possible.

Despite all the great basketball the Hornets have played in recent months, they have consistently struggled to contain great wing scorers like Kevin Durant or DeMar DeRozan. Tatum and Brown both fall into that category.

They might be a little more reliant on their three-point shot, but they can still get into the paint and be aggressive from the midrange. And once they get going, they start using their gravity to distribute to their teammates as well.

Whether it's Miles Bridges, Brandon Miller, Josh Green, or even Grant Williams, it will take a strong individual defensive effort to secure another win and another game with the opponent finishing under 100 points.

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