National Basketball Association
Boston 131, Charlotte 98
When: 7:30 PM ET, Friday, April 12, 2024
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Officials: #29 Mark Lindsay, #72 JT Orr, #43 Matt Myers
Attendance: 19156

Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 31 points and had 11 assists to help the Boston Celtics end a two-game losing streak with a 131-98 rout of the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Friday.

Neither team was near full strength.

Boston (63-18) was without the top six players in its rotation, as Jaylen Brown (hand), Jayson Tatum (knee), Jrue Holiday (knee), Al Horford (toe), Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) and Derrick White (ankle) were downgraded from questionable to out.

Nick Richards (foot) and Grant Williams (ankle) didn't play for the Hornets, who received 19 points and eight assists from Tre Mann plus 15 points from Nick Smith Jr.

Pritchard made 14 of his 22 field-goal attempts. He didn't play in the fourth quarter.

Luke Kornet added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who are locked into the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Boston will wrap up the regular season Sunday with a home game against the Washington Wizards.

Charlotte (20-61) will end its season on Sunday at Cleveland.

Sam Hauser (16), Neemias Queta (career-high 16) and Jaden Springer (season-high 11) were the other Celtics who scored in double figures.

Charlotte committed 20 turnovers and was outrebounded 53-33. Boston had a 32-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Celtics led 30-24 after the first quarter and pulled away in the second. Boston led by three early in the quarter, but went on a 31-6 run and had a 69-41 lead after a Hauser 3-pointer with 34.1 seconds remaining in the half.

Charlotte committed a total of 12 turnovers in the first two quarters and trailed 69-43 at the break.

Pritchard had 23 points and nine assists in the opening half.

The Hornets outscored the Celtics 33-25 in the third, but Boston had a comfortable 94-76 lead entering the fourth. Charlotte never drew closer than 18 points in the final quarter.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Charlotte   Boston
Tre Mann 19 Scoring Payton Pritchard 31
Tre Mann 8 Assists Payton Pritchard 11
Marques Bolden 5 Rebounds Oshae Brissett 11
Bryce McGowens 6 Free Throws Made Jaden Springer 3
Davis Bertans 1 Steals Jaden Springer 3
Leaky Black 2 Blocks JD Davison 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Charlotte 98 42.1 15-35 19-22 20 33 7 3 20
Boston 131 51.9 14-41 9-13 34 53 1 12 6
Upcoming Games
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Washington. The Celtics have a W/L % of .778 after a win and .778 after a loss.
  • Charlotte will play their next game on the road against Cleveland. The Hornets have a W/L % of .200 after a win and .262 after a loss.