Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, left, tries to steal the ball from Hornets center Jusuf Nurkic, center, during Boston’s 130-94 wi on Friday in Boston. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
BOSTON — Payton Pritchard scored 22 points, Sam Hauser had 20 and the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets 130-94 on Friday night for their 60th victory of the season.
The teams will meet again in Boston in the regular-season finale on Sunday.
Derrick White added 19 points, Jayson Tatum had 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Al Horford had 13 points with 11 rebounds for the Celtics (60-21). Boston coach Joe Mazzulla rested his starters in the final quarter.
Celtics star Jaylen Brown was out because of a sore right knee that’s hampered him the past month, making him ineligible for postseason awards because he didn’t reach the league’s threshold for games played.
Seth Curry led the Hornets with 17 points and hit his 82nd 3-pointer, which qualifies him for the NBA’s percentage lead. He went 5 of 7 on 3s and is at 45.6%.
Sacramento’s Zach Levin entered the night, leading at 44.6%.
Boston, which set the league record for 3s in a season this month, hit seven in the third quarter, pushing a one-point halftime edge to 91-75 entering the fourth.
The Celtics were coming off a 20-point loss in Orlando on Wednesday, when they sat their top six players.
Takeaways
Hornets: Sat LaMelo Ball (ankle) and Miles Bridges (hip). They near the end of a dismal season (19-62) and haven’t made the postseason since 2016.
Celtics: Brown’s sore knee could become a factor as the Celtics try to repeat as NBA champs. The reigning Finals MVP is a key defender against opponents’ top scorers.
Key moment
Tatum hit a 3 from the top and was fouled 3:17 into the third, then made the free throw to complete a four-point play.
Key stat
Boston reached 60 wins for the 15th time in franchise history and the first in back-to-back seasons since 2007-08 and 2008-09.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Join the Conversation
We believe it’s important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It’s a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. Read more...
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
For those stories that we do enable discussion, our system may hold up comments pending the approval of a moderator for several reasons, including possible violation of our guidelines. As the Maine Trust’s digital team reviews these comments, we ask for patience.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday and limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs.
You can modify your screen name here.
Show less
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.