Three Takeaways from the Hornets' 11-Point Loss to the Boston Celtics

A win would put the Charlotte Hornets .5 games behind the Toronto Raptors to get out of the Play-In tournament, and to seal their first playoff appearance since the 2015-16 season.

To win, the Charlotte Hornets would need to take down the Boston Celtics, who have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA since the return of Jayson Tatum this year.

Charlotte would be without Coby White in the matchup, while Boston would have a clean injury report for the first time this entire season.

Despite an early double-digit lead, the Hornets were not able to hold on to a strong second half from the Celtics, and lost 113-102 to fall to 43-37 on the season.

LaMelo Ball is ready for the playoffs

Though he had a disappointing fourth quarter, LaMelo Ball was the star of the show again, scoring 36 points, 6 assists, and hitting 6 threes in the defeat to Boston.

Ball has been playing the best basketball of his career lately, which has come from winning, stat increases, and general availability. LaMelo has played in the Hornets' last 54 games, a career-high stretch, and has played in the second-most games of his NBA career.

Best of all, the Hornets star has qualified for postseason awards. LaMelo could very easily make his way onto an All-NBA team. The strength of the Hornets' record over the last few months, and his incredible play, could give Ball his first All-NBA appearance of his career.

The loss of Coby White hurt

Shortly before game time, the Hornets learned that they would be out in their matchup with the Celtics. In his 19 games since being dealt to the Buzz, White has averaged 15.7 points, while being a key part of keeping the Hornets' offense strong with LaMelo Ball on the bench.

White's absence left the Hornets to look to Josh Green, Sion James, and Pat Connaughton off the bench more, and while all are still solid NBA players, none of them provides the scoring or playmaking boost that White does.

The Hornets put up just 18 bench points in White's absence, missing his scoring significantly.

The Celtics might just be unbeatable out East

The Boston Celtics are 13-2 since Jayson Tatum returned.

After missing around their first sixty games so far this season with a torn Achilles, Tatum's abilities once he ended up returning were still a question mark. He's impressed, and after a slow start to his season, Tatum has averaged 24.4 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 7.3 assists, while shooting a 59.2 true shooting percentage.

Boston was already thriving before the return of Tatum, with Jaylen Brown putting up an MVP-caliber season to help lead the Celtics.

They have beaten the Hornets in each of their last two games, and still look all like that dominant team they have been the past few seasons.

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