Celtics beat Hornets 114-93 to stay perfect in preseason
Key takeaways
- Boston beat Charlotte 114-93 at TD Garden on Oct 14, according to Celtics Wire. The win moved Boston to 3-0 in preseason play.
- Jayson Tatum led Boston with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists, according to NBC Sports Boston.
- Charlotte gave the ball away 30 times, according to Celtics Wire. Boston gave it away just 11 times.
A packed basketball arena during a big game. The crowd fills the seats around the court. Photograph: Howard the Duck / Wikimedia Commons
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
The Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets 114-93 on Tuesday, Oct 14, 2026, according to Celtics Wire. The game took place at TD Garden in Boston. It was a preseason game.
Boston is now 3-0 in preseason play. Charlotte is now 1-2.
Preseason means practice games. Teams play them before the real season starts. The results do not count in the standings.
The standings track wins and losses in the real season. Coaches use preseason games to test players. They also try new plans.
Fans get a first look at the team.
Boston led for most of the night. The final gap was 21 points.
What happened
A basketball game has four parts. Each part is called a quarter. Boston won three of the four quarters.
Charlotte won one.
According to Sportradar, Boston won the first quarter 28-20. The second quarter was closer. Boston took it 26-24. That gave Boston a 54-44 lead at half time. Half time is the break in the middle of the game.
Charlotte fought back in the third quarter. The Hornets won it 33-31. That cut the lead to 85-77. Then Boston took over in the fourth quarter. The Celtics won the last quarter 29-16. That sealed the 114-93 win.
Tatum led the way for Boston
Jayson Tatum led Boston. He scored 19 points, according to Celtics Wire and NBC Sports Boston. He also grabbed 8 rebounds.
A rebound is when a player takes the ball after a missed shot. Tatum added 6 assists. An assist is a pass that leads to a score by a teammate.
Derrick White scored 17 points for Boston, according to Celtics Wire and NBC Sports Boston. He also made 4 steals. A steal is when a player takes the ball from the other team.
White hurt his leg during the game. He hurt it in a collision with Dennis Schroder, according to Celtics Wire and NBC Sports Boston. A collision is when two players crash into each other.
Boston got help from the bench
Mitchell Robinson had a strong night. He scored 12 points, according to Celtics Wire. He made every shot he took from the field.
The field means the court. His shooting was 100 percent. Robinson also grabbed 7 rebounds.
He blocked 3 shots. A block is when a player stops a shot in the air. Robinson made the most of his time on the court.
Neemias Queta scored 16 points, according to NBC Sports Boston. Luka Garza scored 14 points. Both men came off the bench.
The bench is the group of players who start the game on the side. They come in to replace the starters. The starters are the five players who begin the game.
Queta and Garza both scored 10 points or more.
Charlotte had bright spots too
Brandon Miller led Charlotte with 16 points, according to Celtics Wire. He also grabbed 5 rebounds. Miller is one of the young stars on the Hornets.
Tidjane Salaun also scored 16 points. He made 4 of his 8 shots from 3-point range. A 3-point shot is a long shot worth three points.
Salaun took 8 of them and made half.
Christian Anderson Jr. played his first game for the Hornets. He scored 10 points in 21 minutes, according to Rookie Wire.
Anderson was the No. 18 overall pick in the draft. The draft is how NBA teams pick new young players.
He played college ball at Texas Tech. A debut is a first game for a new team.
Players warm up on a basketball court before a game. Warm-up time helps players get ready to play. Photograph: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
The biggest gap in the game was turnovers. A turnover is when a team loses the ball before it can take a shot. Charlotte had 30 turnovers, according to Celtics Wire.
Boston had only 11. That means Charlotte gave the ball away 19 more times than Boston. Each giveaway gave Boston one more chance to score. That is hard to overcome in any game.
This is not new for Charlotte. The Hornets had 25 turnovers in their first game of preseason, according to Rookie Wire. That game was against the Brooklyn Nets.
The number went up, not down. Charlotte must fix this fast. The real season starts soon.
Turnovers waste good work.
Boston looks ready, but health matters
For Boston, the win keeps a perfect preseason record. The Celtics have won all three of their preseason games. They also got a look at many players.
Queta and Garza both scored well. Robinson blocked shots and grabbed rebounds. The bench did its job.
White is the one worry. He hurt his leg in the collision with Schroder. Boston needs White.
He scores, he steals the ball, and he guards the other team's best players. The team will hope the injury is small.
Boston is not the only team in good form. The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets 122-110 in preseason play.
Young stars are making noise across the league too. Jalen Duren scored 24 points for the Detroit Pistons against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Basketball fans have more than games to follow. Caitlin Clark is on the cover of NBA 2K27 Season 2. That news shows how big basketball has grown beyond the court.
What happens next
The Celtics play one more preseason game. They face the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, according to Celtics Wire. That game is their preseason finale.
After that, the real season starts. Boston will want to finish preseason with a clean 4-0 record.
The Hornets play the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct 16, according to Rookie Wire. That is their next chance to cut down on turnovers. Anderson will get another game to show what he can do.
The Celtics open the regular season at Detroit on Tuesday, Oct 20, according to NBC Sports Boston. That game counts in the standings. But Boston looks sharp and deep.
The preseason wins will not count.
If Boston keeps sharing the ball and guarding hard, the regular season can start on a strong note. Charlotte has work to do on turnovers. The next few games will show which team learned the most from this one.
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