Key Moment
The Charlotte Hornets knew they were in for a long Friday night when Jayson Tatum and Paul George opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers.
That quick 6-0 start was just the beginning of Boston’s biggest blowout of the season, a 119-80 rout at Spectrum Center that improved the Celtics to 2-0 in NBA Cup group play.
The C’s wasted no time taking control, turning their early 6-0 advantage into a 16-4 lead before doubling up Charlotte, 40-20, by the end of the first quarter.
Tatum led the opening onslaught with 18 points, outscoring the Hornets’ entire starting five by himself, 18-16. Boston also buried 17 3-pointers in the first half, tying a franchise record, while building a commanding lead that would eventually balloon to as many as 46 points.
With point differential serving as a key tiebreaker in NBA Cup group play, every additional basket mattered. The C’s have now outscored their first two Cup opponents by a combined 53 points, putting themselves in a strong position as they continue their pursuit of a spot in the knockout rounds.
Key Player
If Friday night’s contest had been remotely close, Jayson Tatum might have walked away with a 40-point triple-double. Instead, the Celtics superstar had to settle for a dazzling 34-point, eight-rebound, nine-assist performance in just 29 minutes of work.
More than half of his scoring came during his explosive first quarter, when he poured in 18 points to tie his career high for an opening frame. He also created another 12 points from his four assists during the quarter, setting a career-high for points created in any regular-season frame of his career with 30. And he barely missed a beat from there.
Tatum finished 9-of-16 from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, while sinking all 11 of his free-throw attempts. He led the game in both scoring and assists, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, and registered a game-best plus-36 rating.
Box Score Nuggets
Jayson Tatum led all players with 34 points and nine assists while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.The Celtics shot 24-of-44 (54.5 percent) from 3-point range.Boston’s 17 made 3-pointers in the first half tied a franchise record.Derrick White scored all 18 of his points in the first half.Tatum outscored Charlotte’s entire starting five, 18-16, in the first quarter.The Celtics led by as many as 46 points.Charlotte shot just 29.3 percent from the field.No Hornets player scored more than 14 points.Tatum went a perfect 11-of-11 from the free-throw line.Boston improved its NBA Cup point differential to plus-53 through two games.