Key moment
It didn’t take long for the defending Eastern Conference champions to dust off the cobwebs of the summer, as the Boston Celtics outplayed the Charlotte Hornets in the season opener. -season Sunday with a 134-93 win at TD Garden.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, the C’s went on a 13-2 streak early in the second quarter and never looked back.
Sophomore wing Sam Hauser opened the scoring on the first possession of the quarter with his first of four 3-pointers, giving the C’s a 32-24 advantage. Salem/Haverhill, Massachusetts native Noah Vonleh followed with a cutting dunk, then Grant Williams scored five straight points via a driving layup and corner 3 in transition.
Hauser then knocked down another triple at 9:44 and just like that, the Cs went 3-16 in just over two minutes.
It was just the start of a magnificent performance from the Boston bench, which accounted for 72 of the team’s 134 points.
It was also just the start of an impressive overall performance, as the C’s outscored Charlotte 105-69 in the final three quarters.
key player
Jaylen Brown was Boston’s first quarterback throughout last season. Little has changed.
Brown scored seven points in the first four minutes, 13 points in the first quarter and a game-high 24 points in 24 minutes of action.
Brown barely missed the basket all afternoon, shooting 8 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 5 from long range. He was also active on the boards, grabbing five rebounds.
Even though it was just a preseason game, Brown seemed like a man on a mission. The Celtics will need that kind of determination from him as they look to take care of unfinished business this season.
Box Score Nuggets
- Jaylen Brown scored 24 points in 24 minutes to lead all scorers.
- All 16 Celtics who checked into the game contributed in the scoring column.
- Sam Hauser had his first five shots, including four 3-pointers.
- Hauser was also the game’s best plus-26 player in just over 18 minutes of action.
- Malcolm Brogdon finished with nine assists.
- Boston has handed out 41 assists on 48 field goals.
- Charlotte has delivered only 13 assists.
- The Celtics had a 60-56 advantage in the rebounding department.
- Boston shot 57.1 percent from the field (48 of 84) and 46.8 percent from 3 (22 of 47.
- Charlotte had 13 fewer baskets than Boston despite shooting 17 more.
- The Celtics led up to 46 points.
quote of the night
“I felt like I was coaching a great team that wanted to win.”
Joe Mazzulla in his first game as Celtics interim head coach
