boar head The Celtics head to Charlotte for games against the Hornets. The Celtics suffer their first loss of the season against the Indiana Pacers, the opponent of the Celtics Eastern Conference Finals. Charlotte is 2-2 on the season, beating Houston and Toronto and losing to Atlanta and Miami.

It is the first meeting between these two teams this season. They meet again Saturday in back-to-back games, also in Charlotte. They close the series in Boston on April 11 and 13. The Celtics won the series 2-1 last season, winning their only game in Boston and winning one and losing one in Charlotte. The Celtics are 77-46 all-time against the Hornets and 36-26 in games played in Charlotte.

The Celtics largely held out this offseason, bringing back their entire core of players and only losing Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett. They added Baylor Scheierman, who was the 30th pick in the draft, and second-round pick Anton Watson to a two-way contract. They also added a few chips on their shoulder after a few Olympic punches.

The new owner of the Charlotte Hornets has been busy this offseason hiring a new head coach, general manager and team president. Former Celtics assistant coach Charles Lee is the new Hornets head coach. The team drafted French forward Tidjane Salaşn 6th and KJ Simpson 42nd. They also signed center Taj Gibson and guard Seth Curry as free agents.

For the Celtics, Al Horford will be out for this game before halftime in the first half of the back-to-back. I suspect Luke Kornet will start in his place. They will also be without Kristaps Porzingis again, who is still recovering from offseason ankle surgery. The Hornets will be without DaQuan Jeffries, who is out with a hand injury, and Mark Williams, who is out with a foot injury. Neither has played yet this season. Brandon Miller is questionable due to a glute injury.

Likely Celtics starters

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PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Luke Kornet

Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Sam Hauser
Neemias Queta
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh

2-way players
J.D. Davison
Drew Peterson
Anthony Watson

Injuries/out
Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) out
Al Horford (rest).

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Likely Hornets starters

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PG: LaMelo ball
SG: Seth Curry
SF: Josh Green
PF: Miles Bridges
C: Nick Richards

Hornets Reservations
Grant Williams
Nick Smith, Jr
Cody Martin
Vasa Micic
Tre Mann
Tidjane Salaun
Taj Gibson

2-way players
Moussa Diabate
KJ Simpson
Jared Rhoden

Injuries/out
DaQuan Jeffries (hand) out
Mark Williams (foot) out
Brandon Miller (glute) questionable

Head Coach
Charles Lee

Key matches

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  Jrue holiday
  
  

  Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
  

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  LaMelo ball
  
  

  Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
  

Jrue Holiday vs. LaMelo Ball
Ball is playing very well this season, averaging 28.5 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He is shooting 42.7% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc. He’ll be tough to slow down, but if anyone can do that, it’s the Celtics’ defensive line.

Grid view

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  Payton Pritchard
  
  

  Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images
  

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  Tre Mann
  
  

  Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
  

Payton Pritchard vs. Tre Mann
This is a matchup of key substitutes off the bench who both shoot the three very well. Mann is averaging 20.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 44.6% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc. Pritchard is averaging 16.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 45.6% from the field and 46.9% from beyond the arc.

Honorable mention
Jayson Tatum vs. Miles Bridges
Tatum is coming off a game in which he scored 37 points but shot just 40% from the field and 27.8% from beyond the arc on 18 attempts. The Celtics need him to be more efficient at this. Bridges is averaging 15 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1 block per game. He is shooting 39.6% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.

Keys to the game
Defense – Defense is always the key to winning. It was a lack of defense that created a 23-point gap against the Pacers and it was good defense that got them back into the game and forced overtime. The Celtics rank eleventh with a defensive rating of 111.5. The Hornets rank 29th with a defensive rating of 118.7. The Hornets are 4th in scoring with 118.5 points per game. The Celtics are 1st in 3-point attempts at 42.4 and 2nd in 3-point percentage at 40.7%. The Hornets are 4th in 3-point attempts per game and 5th in 3-point percentage at 39.2%. The Celtics mainly have to guard the Hornets on the perimeter.

Recoil – Rebounding is important to give the Celtics extra possession and limit possession for their opponents. The Celtics are averaging 43 rebounds per game (18th), while the Hornets are averaging 48.3 rebounds (3rd). Rebounding takes effort and the Celtics have to put in extra effort to beat the Hornets with rebounds. The Hornets rank first with 22.8 second-chance points per game and the Celtics need to limit that by putting more effort into grabbing rebounds.

Maximum effort for 48 minutes – The Celtics’ effort through the first three quarters against the Pacers left much to be desired, leaving them in a 23-point hole. They finally found some energy and effort in the 4th quarter and fought back to force overtime. The Celtics’ effort in their previous two games was good at times and not so good at other times. The Celtics need to give maximum effort on the boards and on defense and they need to put that effort in for the entire game and not just 1 or 2 quarters.

Play bank -The Hornets have 3 players off the bench who shoot over 40% from the perimeter. Tre Mann (20.5 points, 42.9% from three), Cody Martin (11.5 points, 42.1% from three) and Grant Williams (10.3 points, 47.4% from three) The reserves of Celtics need to get into the game and finish playing hard on defense to limit their 3-point shooting. They also have to perform offensively.

X factors
On The Road – The Celtics are playing in their 4th game on the road this season. The Celtics are faced with the distractions of travel and a hostile crowd and they cannot allow these distractions to take away their focus on the game. On the other hand, they have the motivation that they lost their last match due to poor play on their part, to compensate for the distraction of playing on the road.

Coaching – Charles Lee helped the Celtics to their 18th championship as an assistant coach. He now leads the Charlotte Hornets as their head coach. I’m sure these two coaches share some coaching philosophies, including the strategy of shooting a lot of threes. Which coach will come out on top here?

On duty – Officiating is always an x-factor. Each crew calls the game differently. Some call it tight and call any contact, while others allow more physical play. Some prefer the home team, while others call both sides equal. The Celtics must adapt to the way the referees judge the game and not allow ‘no and bad calls’ to affect their focus on playing the game.

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