Field Level Media
Jan 19, 2022
Terry Rozier finished with a game-high 28 points and 10 assists against his former team to help keep the Charlotte Hornets rolling with a 111-102 win over the host Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
Miles Bridges added 22 points and LaMelo Ball had 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for Charlotte, which won for the sixth time in seven games.
Dennis Schroder scored 24 points to pace Boston on an off night for stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Brown had 21 points but finished just 2 of 11 from 3-point range. Tatum wound up with 12 points on 5-of-19 shooting (0 of 7 from long distance). Al Horford contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
Boston had won two straight and five of its previous six games.
Charlotte was back at full strength after Ball returned from a one-game absence caused by a non-COVID illness. Kelly Oubre Jr. also returned to the lineup after clearing the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocol, and he scored 18 points.
Boston played without starting guard Marcus Smart (return to competition reconditioning) for a fifth straight game. Robert Williams III (personal reasons) and Aaron Nesmith (right ankle sprain) were also sidelined for the Celtics.
Charlotte led 56-48 at halftime after Boston had was up by as many as six points in the opening quarter. Jalen McDaniels' bucket with 4:39 to play in the second quarter put the Hornets in control for good at 45-43.
The Hornets stretched their advantage to 14 in the third before carrying an 86-74 lead into the fourth.
Charlotte maintained a healthy advantage for most of the final period, but Boston closed within 108-102 with 1:14 remaining following back-to-back 3-pointers from Schroder. Rozier countered with a trey of his own with 54.8 seconds left to seal the win.
The Celtics earned a 140-129 overtime victory at Charlotte in the teams' first meeting of the season on Oct. 25.
--Field Level Media