The Boston Celtics looked as though they were on the verge of dropping their second straight game early in the fourth quarter against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, but Avery Bradley saved the day.
The Hornets took a three-point lead in the fourth despite the fact that Boston had led by as many as 14. But Bradley, who already was having a fantastic night, scored 10 points in three-and-a-half minutes as the Celtics went on what ended up being a 22-7 run to finish the game strong with a 104-98 win.
Here’s how it all went down.
ZERO GAME
Bradley dropped 31 points on the Hornets to go with 11 rebounds and eight made 3-pointers, both career highs. The Celtics lost control of this game more than a few times, but Bradley put the team on his back to keep them in it. The shooting guard almost made Boston forget it was missing its two best bench players in Marcus Smart and Kelly Olynyk.
THREE PARTY
Bradley’s eight treys were something, but the whole team was doing a good job draining 3-pointers all night. The Celtics made 15 3-pointers on 31 attempts over four quarters and made 6 of 10 in the first quarter alone, with their first 15 points of the game coming on 3-pointers.
FOUL TROUBLE
The Hornets cut the Celtics’ lead to three by halftime and pulled ahead 72-71 at the end of the third quarter despite shooting around 30 percent for most of that time. The reason for that was some rough officiating and a lopsided number of foul calls for the Celtics. Going into the fourth quarter, Charlotte had taken 28 free throws to Boston’s 10. The Celtics didn’t shoot a single one in the second quarter, and turning the ball over 10 times in the first half certainly didn’t make their situation any better.
PLAY OF THE NIGHT
Jordan Mickey saw a little extra time on the court when Amir Johnson found himself in foul trouble, and the 22-year-old forward did this.
UP NEXT
The Celtics meet the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday for the second time this season already, but this time it’s in Boston. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images
