Boston Celtics @ Charlotte Hornets
Sunday, March 29, 2026 at 6:00 PM ET
Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC | Game ID: 22501085
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CHA 21 28 26 24 99BOS 27 36 26 25 114
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard help push Celtics past the Hornets 114-99
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- — Jayson Tatum scored 32 points, Payton Pritchard added 28 points and the Boston Celtics defeated the cold-shooting Charlotte Hornets 114-99 on Sunday night for their third straight victory.
Neemias Queta added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics, who played their second consecutive game without Jaylen Brown (Achilles tendinitis).
LaMelo Ball had 19 points and Miles Bridges 14 for the Hornets, who entered the game leading the NBA in made 3-pointers (1,210) and third in 3-point percentage (38.2), but were just 12 of 43 from beyond the arc against the Eastern Conference's second-place team.
Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel finished a combined 7 of 27 on 3-point shots.
Pritchard, who continued to be a terrific replacement for Brown, was able to get to the basket at will, finishing 10 of 18 from the field and 6 of 6 from the foul line. Pritchard entered the game averaging 25.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in the previous eight games Brown missed this season.
Tatum was strong all night, shooting 12 of 23 from the field — including 5 of 10 from 3-point range — while adding eight assists.
The Celtics raced to a 19-point lead, holding the Hornets to 5-of-21 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half.
Charlotte had cut the lead to nine early in the fourth quarter before Tatum launched a 3 over Bridges from the top of the key and then stared into the crowd and pointed as the lead got back to 16.
After a Pritchard layup pushed the lead to 17 with 3:52 left, Hornets coach Charles Lee had seen enough and emptied the bench.
Charlotte ended its seven-game homestand with two straight losses after winning the first five to secure at least a spot in the play-in game.
CHA KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
BOSAW A. Williams
BS B. Scheierman
CB C. Bassey
HG H. González
JT J. Tatum
JT J. Tonje
JW J. Walsh
LG L. Garza
MS M. Shulga
NQ N. Queta
PP P. Pritchard
RH R. Harper Jr.
SH S. Hauser
CHABM B. Miller
CW C. White
JG J. Green
KK K. Knueppel
LB L. Ball
LM L. McNeeley
MB M. Bridges
MD M. Diabaté
PC P. Connaughton
RK R. Kalkbrenner
SJ S. James
TM T. Mann
XT X. Tillman
BOS/CHA the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur