NBA: Tatum scores 34 as Celtics crush Hornets 119-80

Forty points to twenty after twelve minutes: Boston had already done most of the work by the time the first quarter ended at the Spectrum Center on Friday 6 November 2026. The Celtics beat the Hornets 119-80 in front of 19,586 spectators, with 34 points from Jayson Tatum and a margin that reached 46 points late on.

Charlotte were listed as without Kon Knueppel, Grant Williams, Moussa Diabaté or Dennis Schröder, according to the latest injury report. The game counted towards the NBA Cup. There was no change of lead.

A one-sided start

Boston led 9-21 with 6:22 left in the first quarter, after a 9-0 run that moved the scoreboard from 4-9 to 4-18. A second run, 8-0, followed across the first two quarters, from 20-34 to 20-42. Charlotte closed the first quarter at 20-40.

The second quarter widened the gap: 27-53 with 6:17 left before half-time, then a 9-0 run from 31-53 to 31-62, then another 8-0 just before the break, from 36-62 to 36-70. The Celtics went into the locker room leading 70-39. Brandon Miller played only 14 minutes, scoring 8 points on 3 of 10 shooting.

The Hornets never recovered

After the break, Boston kept up the pace: 81-48 with 6:10 left in the third quarter, 96-57 at the buzzer, after a 7-0 run from 53-87 to 53-94. In the fourth quarter, a final 8-0 run took the score from 61-96 to 61-104, and the biggest margin came at 69-115, with 3:26 to play. Charlotte matched Boston over the final period (23-23), to no real effect.

Players of the match

Jayson Tatum dominated the box score: 34 points on 9 of 16 shooting, including 5 of 8 from three, and 11 of 11 from the free-throw line. He added 8 rebounds and 9 assists in 29 minutes, with a plus-minus of +36, the best on his team. Derrick White made his mark from long range: 18 points with 4 of 6 from three, 5 assists and a +23 in 25 minutes. On the disappointing side, Paul George finished with 8 points on 3 of 11 shooting, but with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in 22 minutes. Off the bench, Payton Pritchard made 4 of 6 from three for 12 points, with 6 rebounds and 5 assists; his +27 was the second-best plus-minus of the game behind Tatum's. Sam Hauser added 9 points, all from behind the arc.

Tidjane Salaun, a substitute, scored 13 points including 5 of 6 free throws in 23 minutes. Sion James scored 11 points with 3 of 5 from three in 21 minutes. At the other end of the scoresheet, Coby White managed only 7 points, going 1 of 8 from the field with 3 turnovers in 16 minutes, for a plus-minus of -23. Starter Naz Reid finished as the Hornets' top scorer with 14 points, but on 6 of 17 shooting and with a -30, the worst plus-minus of the game. Grayson Allen did not score in 22 minutes (0 of 5). Hannes Steinbach was the strongest presence on the boards, with 11 rebounds, including 5 offensive, and 3 blocks.

The game in numbers

Boston led for 99% of the game. The points breakdown shows where the gap came from: the Celtics scored only 28 points in the paint, against 30 for Charlotte. Almost everything went through the perimeter. The Hornets even took more offensive rebounds, 19 to 14, without profiting from them, shooting 29%. Boston also won the battle of the benches, 49 points to 47, the fast-break battle, 16 points to 10, and the blocks battle, 8 to 3.

Three takeaways

A gap beyond reach. The Celtics led by as many as 46 points, with 3:26 to play, and never lost the lead. Charlotte never led and never scored more than 20 points in a quarter before the last.

Long-range shooting decided everything. Boston hit 24 of 44 from three-point range, or 55%, while Charlotte made only 11 of 50 (22%). The Celtics also had 33 assists to 18 and 51 rebounds to 43.

Charlotte wasted too many possessions. The Hornets finished with 27 field goals from 92 attempts (29%) and turned the ball over 17 times, against 19 for Boston, who nevertheless shot far more accurately, at 38 of 83 (46%).

The SNA view

The score tells of a game settled very early, and the numbers point to a clear cause: the gulf in efficiency behind the arc. Boston converted more than one in two three-point attempts, Charlotte fewer than one in four, and Tatum, at 11 of 11 from the line, added a consistency his opponents never had. One caveat, though: Charlotte were without several starters, and Boston gave the ball away 19 times in a game they controlled from start to finish. Against a full-strength side, that sloppiness would cost them far more.

What's next

Boston move to 7-2 and sit 2nd in the Eastern Conference in the 7 November standings. Charlotte drop to 3-7, 11th in the East. The Celtics travel to Milwaukee on Monday 9 November at 2:00 Brazzaville time. Charlotte host Cleveland on Tuesday 10 November at 1:00.