The Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets haven’t had a lot in common in recent seasons, given the wide gap in their levels of success.
But there’s a connection between the teams this season, with first-year Hornets coach Charles Lee arriving with his new team after holding a role as an assistant coach for the NBA champion Celtics.
The teams meet Friday night for the first of two games on back-to-back nights in Charlotte.
The Hornets earned their first home win Wednesday night by defeating the Toronto Raptors 138-133, with Tre Mann (27), Cody Martin (25) and Grant Williams (17) combining for 69 points off the bench.
With Mann’s output, it’s the first time this season that point guard LaMelo Ball wasn’t Charlotte’s leading scorer. Building depth is one of the goals for the Hornets, and the reserves are coming through.
“Their contribution was huge. We needed every one of those buckets, and we needed every one of those stops that those guys helped us get,” Lee said. “I’m really proud of our bench, and that’s why I have so much confidence in the depth of this team.”
While the Hornets took another step under Lee with a home victory, the Celtics lost for the first time Wednesday night after a 4-0 start. They fell 135-132 in overtime at Indiana, where they began a four-game road stretch.
“We made a game of it,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “The guys fought, so that was good.”
Either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown has been Boston’s leading scorer in every game. Tatum has scored 37 points three times — in every other game so far.
Yet the energy level on the road drew some concerns for the Celtics.
“They outplayed us,” Mazzulla said. “I thought we were a step behind in everything. Their speed, their pace, they were a step ahead of us.”
The Celtics and Hornets experienced wild swings in momentum in their most recent games.
Boston trailed by 24 points, yet responded to force overtime at Indiana. Charlotte was ahead of Toronto by 23 points in the second quarter, yet trailed by around the midway mark of the third quarter before pulling things together.
“We’ve talked about it a ton in terms of the standards of excellence that we’re trying to set around here every day,” Lee said. “It’s a consistency of habits.”
The Hornets made 20 shots from 3-point range in the Toronto game. Those opportunities weren’t created only from actions of players on the perimeter.
“No. 1 is our screening,” Lee said. “Our bigs do a phenomenal job of helping our guards create an advantage and get downhill, get to the paint.
“Some of those guys have the ability and versatility to pop sometimes, which I think confuses coverages.”
Charlotte could have forward Brandon Miller back in action after he has missed more than a week with a glute injury. He was involved in on-court pregame work Wednesday and is listed as questionable.
Boston won two of three meetings with the Hornets last season, losing in overtime on the road in the first matchup last November.