Boston didn't merely beat Charlotte on Friday night. It blew the Hornets off their own floor, winning 119–80 in an NBA Cup performance that was effectively decided before the second half began.
Jayson Tatum set the tone with 34 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. He had 24 points by half-time, when the Celtics already led 70–39. That's the sort of opening that turns an away fixture into a long evening for the home crowd — and Boston didn't offer Charlotte much of a way back.
The outside shooting was ruthless. Boston made 24 three-pointers at 54.5 per cent, a record for an NBA Cup game, according to CelticsBlog's match report. Derrick White supplied 18 points and Payton Pritchard added 12, while the Celtics kept finding ways to punish a defence already stretched by injuries.
But this wasn't simply a hot shooting night. Charlotte shot only 29.3 per cent from the field and managed 39 points in the first half. Boston's defensive pressure gave its shooters the freedom to play with a commanding lead, rather than asking them to rescue a close contest. The 40–20 opening quarter told the story; the 30–19 second quarter made it emphatic.
The Hornets had little margin for error with several players unavailable, and Brandon Miller's departure at half-time with groin soreness only deepened their problems. Their offensive struggles were plain enough before that setback. Boston's advantage came from both ends, not just an extraordinary run of threes.
The result lifts the Celtics to 7–2 overall and 2–0 in East Group C. Their plus-53 point differential matters in the NBA Cup's group-stage race, where winning big can be almost as valuable as winning at all. The NBA's official fixture page confirms the contest as an East Group C meeting; the NBA Cup game record also records Boston's 119–80 victory.
There's still a long regular season ahead, but Boston has given its Cup rivals a clear warning: with Tatum creating, its supporting cast converting and the defence squeezing opponents into poor shots, this team can put a game beyond reach in a hurry.
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