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Charlotte Hornets at Boston Celtics

Wed Oct 147:30 PM ETBoston, MA
By JR·2 min read
Hornets(0-0)
Celtics(0-0)
Wednesday 10/147:30 PM

TLDR: Preseason basketball at TD Garden on Wednesday, October 14, and for once there are real questions to answer. Boston wants a better look at its new roster, and Charlotte wants to know how many guards it will have when the real games start.

WED 10/14, 7:30 PM
Hornets
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Celtics
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Boston brings a reshaped roster into this preseason game: Tatum is back, Pritchard has a bigger role with Jaylen Brown gone, and George is still learning the offense. Charlotte comes in without Knueppel, Coby White and several other guards, but the healthy players just beat Milwaukee by 15. With both teams playing reserves late, the result likely comes down to which bench holds up in the 2nd half.

Charlotte Hornets
  • Beat Milwaukee by 15 without 6 injured players
  • 31-19 2nd quarter shows the reserves can push pace
  • Coby White out all preseason with calf strain
  • Knueppel's hamstring keeps him out all preseason
  • LaMelo and Bridges traded, offense still taking shape
Boston Celtics
  • Tatum sharp in return: 23 points in 27 minutes
  • Pritchard 5-of-8 from 3 in expanded role
  • Gonzalez, Scheierman filled up the box off the bench

This is a different Celtics team. Jaylen Brown is in Philadelphia now, Paul George and Mitchell Robinson wear green, and Jayson Tatum is back on the floor. Tatum had 23 points in 26:54 in Saturday's 144-106 rout of the 76ers, his first game in 163 days, and Joe Mazzulla said he got "good carryover from what we're asking him to do on both ends." With Brown gone, Payton Pritchard is in line for a bigger offensive role, and he went for a game-high 25 on 5-of-8 from deep.

Charlotte's makeover goes even deeper. LaMelo Ball was traded to Minnesota and Miles Bridges to Phoenix, so the franchise now runs through Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. The trouble is that Knueppel hurt his left hamstring in offseason work and won't play in the preseason. He's aiming for the October 21 opener in Brooklyn, and GM Jeff Peterson says he "doesn't know" whether Knueppel will make it. There's no board on this one yet. That's probably right, since nobody can say who is playing.

The Hornets still found a way to beat Milwaukee 105-90 on Sunday without Christian Anderson, Grayson Allen, Coby White, Knueppel, Grant Williams or Kylan Boswell. A 31-19 2nd quarter did most of the work and Charlotte led by 20 after 3 before the Bucks cut into it late. Milwaukee was missing players too, so don't read much into it. Still, the group Charlotte had left ran a rebuilding team off its floor, and that's most of the roster Boston should expect to see Wednesday.

Boston's depth is the matchup to watch. Hugo Gonzalez scored 17 on 6-of-7 shooting, 4-of-4 from 3, against Philly. Baylor Scheierman ran the point in the 4th quarter and finished with 8 assists and 5 steals. In October the reserves play the 2nd half, and Boston's 2nd unit is producing. George is the one starter still finding his way. He shot 3-of-10 with a game-high 5 steals and admitted he's "still trying to find my way offensively, figuring out the system."

Tipoff is 7:30 PM ET. For Boston, the things to watch are how long Tatum plays and whether George starts to look comfortable in the offense. Luka Garza also went to the locker room late against Philly with a nose issue. For Charlotte, the question is whether any of the injured guards gets back on the floor before the trip to Brooklyn. Boston plays Philadelphia again on October 16 to close its preseason, with Sam Cassell coaching that one.