The Celtics rack up a conference win as they defeat the Charlotte Hornets 113-107. With the C’s winning their last 3 out of 4 games, this win is the most impressive. 

The real surprise was Boston’s scoring leader Josh Richardson with 23 points hitting 6 threes. Coming as a big boost since coach Udoka only played 8 players total. The next leading scorer was Marcus Smart with 22 points and being automatic from the free throw line. Jaylen Brown had 15 points and Jayson Tatum with 19. 

For the entire game it was close. The Celtics jumped out to a small lead and never could quite pull away. Thanks to Lamelo Ball’s career high 38 points, Charlotte was able to stay in range for 48 minutes. By halftime the score was nearly tied at 54-52 Celtics lead. 

Former Celtics guard Terry Rozier dropped 23 points with no free throws, straight buckets. The Hornets almost let the game slip away in the second half with the lead reaching 12 at one point. However, they were able to bring it back and keep it close. 

The fourth quarter is when the home crowd for the Celtics got involved. The game was tied with 40 seconds left on the clock at 107-107. Tatum made a strong move to the cup and drew a foul. He made both free throws. 

Charlotte inbounds the ball with 35 seconds left on their own side of the court. Rozier passed it inbound to Ball who then dished it to P.J. Washington for the three, which was tipped by Robert Williams and recovered by Tatum. The Celtics escaped in a close win starting a 2 game winning streak. 

Although Celtics sit at the 9th seed in the conference they now have just as many wins as Charlotte. They climb up the playoff ladder as the C’s start distributing the rock more putting up 13 more assists as a team than the Hornets. 

The Celtics play the Pistons Friday.