Youngsters step up as Celtics snap 3-game skid with win over Charlotte

Brad Stevens wasn’t in much of a mood to talk about Marcus Smart’s one-game suspension prior to the game, but the Celtics coach knew what he was left with.

“Point guard by committee,” he said of the Tremont Waters/Payton Pritchard PG rotation he sent out Wednesday night against Davonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier, before his youngsters helped steer home a 120-111 win that snapped a three-game losing streak.

Kemba Walker was also out with an oblique strain, Smart (and his team) was paying a steep price for threatening the officiating crew Tuesday night, and Stevens could have been talking about more than his point guards.

There was the other rookie, Aaron Nesmith, playing crunch-time minutes for a 15-point, nine-rebound performance to go along with the headliners. Jaylen Brown, who a night earlier had talked of summoning an inner fire, responded with 38 points. Jayson Tatum checked back in after a night off with 35 points, and the Celtics inched away.

Cody Zeller closed out the third quarter with a 3-pointer that cut the Celtics lead to 88-80.

The sides swapped 3-pointers to open the fourth, with the Hornets getting the better of it with a 7-0 run that cut the Celtics lead to four points, and then three on two Rozier free throws.

The former Celtic came back with a 3-pointer with 7:21 left that cut the C’s lead to 99-96, but Nesmith buried a corner 3 for a 102-96 edge with 7:02 to go.

But opening up space was impossible until, with 5:55 left, Brown nailed his seventh trey of the night for a 105-98 lead.

Tatum was then fouled by Miles Bridges attempting to dunk, but could only hit the second of two. But Rozier missed, and Tatum bounced in a 20-foot fadeaway for a 108-98 lead with 4:13 left. Graham missed two free throws, and two possessions later Tatum converted a reverse finger roll after a long dribble.

PJ Washington answered with a three-point play but Tatum, fouled, hit twice with 2:15 left for an 11-point lead.

Graham missed, and Tatum hit Nesmith with a full-court pass for the dunk and a 114-101 lead with 2:02 left.

Tatum was caught shoving Rozier in the back during a fight for a rebound and the latter hit twice to cut the Celtics cushion to nine points. But Nesmith was goaltended off the break, wrapping the night.

The Celtics led by as many as 20 points, and though a cast of Hornets cut that cushion to 58-47 by halftime, the C’s were back in business behind a 20-point first quarter from Brown and a 15-point half from Tatum.

The rotation of Tristan Thompson and Rob Williams also gave them a constant interior presence, with the former finishing the half with nine points and eight rebounds.

It didn’t take long for Graham, one of the Celtics’ chief tormentors on Sunday, to heat up. The Hornets guard scored nine points — two 3s and a three-point play — in a 13-1 Charlotte run that cut the C’s lead to 66-63.

Though the Celtics dug in, opening up some space would prove difficult, with Graham and Washington answering scores by Brown and Tatum. But Tatum beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer for a 79-70 edge, and lobbed to Rob Williams for a brief 11-point edge.

Big hoops by the rookies on a Nesmith put-back and five straight points by Pritchard rescued them late, though Zeller cut the Celtics lead to 88-80 with a quarter-closing 3.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/32YlyEk