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    The Celtics roll as Grant Williams, the Hornets lose control late
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    The Celtics roll as Grant Williams, the Hornets lose control late

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    8 minutes, 9 seconds Read

    Celtics

    With two minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Celtics holding a nine-minute lead, Williams delivered a huge blow on the pass to Tatum.

    The Celtics roll as Grant Williams, the Hornets lose control late

    Grant Williams was ejected for an apparent two-pointer after going shoulder-to-shoulder and throwing Jayson Tatum hard to the ground. Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

    Jayson Tatum and the Celtics pulled away with a comfortable 124-109 victory on Saturday, while Grant Williams and the Hornets completely lost their composure in the final minutes.

    Here are the snack bars.

    Grant Williams was sent off for a dirty hit on Jayson Tatum.

    We'd be remiss if we didn't start with the most dramatic moments of an otherwise relatively sleepy game.

    With two minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Celtics holding a nine-minute lead, Grant Williams delivered a huge blow in transition to Tatum, going shoulder-to-shoulder and knocking the Celtics star hard to the ground.

    Tatum immediately jumped up (knocking off the hands of a referee who was checking him on the way to the free throw line), but the referees waved everyone back to their benches to review the play. After the review, Williams was sent off for a blatant two-pointer.

    The call was well deserved. Williams hit Tatum hard out of nowhere and as official James Williams told the crowd, there was great potential for injury. Williams' play was dirty, reckless and completely unnecessary.

    There was a lot of emphasis on the goodwill between Williams and the Celtics. Plays like this inevitably make you wonder whether that goodwill was overstated and whether the remaining goodwill may have been torched by Williams for no apparent reason.

    The Hornets fell apart after the ejection.

    After Williams was thrown off the rope, Charlotte completely lost control of the rope. Tatum made both free throws from the two obvious balls, and on the ensuing possession, LaMelo Ball committed his sixth foul of the game by hitting a three-pointer under Tatum's foot (Ball picked up some of his previous fouls on the aforementioned drives from Brown). . Ball's foul was upgraded to a flagrant foul after officials investigated and (again) identified a risk of injury. Then Payton Pritchard was fouled and went 1-2 at the line, and when the Hornets tried to inbound the ball, Pritchard stole it, resulting in a two-handed slam from Queta. The eight points down completely iced the game for the Celtics, and the Hornets responded by…watching Miles Bridges stubbornly hit the ball out of bounds and also get ejected from the game.

    The Hornets may have some young talent, but they didn't exactly cover themselves in glory at the end of the game.

    Tatum continues to score points in a variety of ways.

    Tatum's relatively cool streak from behind the arc continued with a 3-for-9 performance, but he went to the free throw line 15 times for the second straight game and scored 34 points.

    Tatum admitted he settled for about eight 3-pointers against the Pacers, and he may have settled for a few on Friday as well, when he fired and missed some tantalizing looks from behind the arc, although he did have one Hornets defense could have attacked, which has more holes than an anthill.

    Still, Tatum's performance (which included 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals on Friday) is pretty undeniable early on.

    Jaylen Brown attacked the paint (but couldn't make 3s).

    Brown said earlier this season that he would make a living attacking the team, and there was perhaps no clearer example than Friday – Brown hit 8 of 19 from the field and 0 of 6 from behind the arc. He dropped 25 points with six rebounds and five assists before the end.

    Brown's forays inside the arc have been overwhelmingly successful. The Hornets don't have much size or muscle at the rim, and Brown was able to use his shoulder to get the better of smaller Hornets guards (most notably LaMelo Ball), and he successfully picked off Josh Green several times. As the Hornets collapsed to contain him, Brown did his best Tatum impression, making several nice passes to create baskets for his teammates. His aggressive play earned him ten appearances at the free throw line, nine of which were successful.

    The downside: Brown's 3-point shot appears to have temporarily failed him after Wednesday's 1:11 debacle.

    Brown told reporters after Wednesday's game that he felt his team's lack of energy and performance was largely his fault and that he needed to do better for his guys. Brown was better on Wednesday, and good things generally happen any time the Celtics collapse opposing defenses.

    However, it might be nice for Brown to miss a few 3-pointers.

    Neemias Queta had mixed results.

    Queta is a fantastic fourth option off the bench and a really nice burst of energy when given minutes. Queta finished the game with three offensive rebounds and ten points on 5-on-5 shooting and influenced the game defensively with his verticality.

    He also threw down a huge dunk to Bridges, with some added disrespect at the end that may have helped put Bridges in the bad mood that seemingly got him ejected.

    However, Queta's defensive rebounding left a lot to be desired. At one point, with Queta on the floor and Luke Kornet out of the game, the Hornets grabbed four offensive rebounds on one possession, ending with a layup by Tre Mann. Queta is big and physically gifted, and he needs to be able to put an end to defensive possessions that win the Celtics.

    For his role, Queta is an excellent option who can very capably fill minutes on nights like Wednesday when Al Horford needs a night off. Expect the Celtics to call on Horford for the second straight game on Saturday.

    The Celtics don't respect Josh Green as a shooter.

    At some point in the first half, Hornets guard Josh Green caught a pass in transition and placed a 3-point shot from the corner. Derrick White started the close-out, but then immediately gave up the close-out and tried to get into the rebound position. In fact, Green missed the jumper.

    The play had no particular impact, but was a reminder of the Celtics' championship series against Green and the Mavericks. How so many people got this series prediction wrong remains a mystery.

    Maybe Grant Williams was actually mad at Derrick White?

    White got it both ways against Williams with this block, followed by a nice hesitation that resulted in a foul.

    Jordan Walsh provided a small boost.

    Walsh came into the game in the first half and sank a couple of three-pointers in his six-minute stint. The first was just seconds after he checked in – Brown drove, drew defenders and kicked to Walsh for the 3-pointer, which seemed to get the sophomore winger into a rhythm because he also sank his next shot.

    Round 2: Fight!

    The Celtics face the Hornets again on Saturday, in what suddenly looks like a much more interesting rematch after Friday's fireworks. They end their four-game road trip on Monday against the Hawks.

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