Charlotte Hornets close out home stand against the Boston Celtics
The Charlotte Hornets kept their playoff hopes alive with a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Can they keep the ball rolling against the Boston Celtics?
It’s safe to say that the Charlotte Hornets (32-39) haven’t had much success against the Boston Celtics (43-29) over the years.
In fact, the last time the Hornets even won the season series against the Celtics was the 2000-2001 season. Since then, Boston has dominated, winning the season series 11 out of the past 15 times.
One has to wonder what would have happened if Charlotte had a team during the gap between the 2001-2002 and 2004-2005 seasons.
Charlotte won’t win this year’s series either, but they can at least tie it with a win in Boston. It would certainly help their meager playoff chances and with a tough four-game road trip coming up, it’s pretty much a must-win if they want to keep pace with the other teams fighting for that final playoff spot.
Charlotte’s last game was a 113-106 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are still in the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston’s last contest was a 115-118 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. They are 5th in the Eastern Conference. This is the final time these two will meet this season.
Charlotte Hornets vs Boston Celtics
6:00 p.m. EST, Saturday, March 23rd, 2019
Spectrum Center
Fox Sports Southeast
Stream: Fubo.tv
Injury Report:
CHA:
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – Concussion (Out)
Cody Zeller – Knee (Out)
BOS:
Aron Baynes – Ankle (Out)
Gordon Hayward – Concussion (Out)
Al Horford – Knee (Out)
Things to watch for:
Both teams have some serious injuries, but Boston’s seem a bit more worrisome, at least for Celtics fans.
It potentially makes things easier for Charlotte, but they’ll still have to contend with Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum. Charlotte really needs to take advantage of this one.
This is the first of yet another back-to-back series for Charlotte. After this one, they will immediately get on a plane to Toronto to face the Raptors, making this game even more important.
Keys to the game:
Boston ranks 6th in the NBA in both three-pointers attempted and three-point field goal percentage. They are 5th in the league in three-pointer made. Long-range shooting is obviously a large part of Boston’s offense, so Charlotte should definitely avoid leaving them open on the perimeter.
Adding to this, Boston holds teams to the 4th lowest three-point field goal percentage. Charlotte is not exactly a proficient team from deep, ranking just 21st in three-point percentage, so instead of focusing on the outside shot, they’d best be served attacking Boston’s undermanned interior.
Don’t pass up on an open three-point attempt, of course, but concentrate on getting into the paint.
Next. It's time to roll with the young lineup. dark
It may just be me, but I feel like Charlotte has a shot in this one. It won’t be easy, obviously, but if they can take advantage of Boston’s injuries, they may just be heading to Canada riding a two-game winning streak. Let’s hope that is the case before the Hornets leave the Queen City.