Despite tense moments between the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets during parts of their Friday night game, lots of love was displayed afterward.
They teams get together for a rematch Saturday night in a game that also will be held in Charlotte.
Many of the Celtics know Hornets coach Charles Lee well. He was a Boston assistant coach last season when the Celtics captured the NBA title.
“I think he definitely has his work cut for him,” Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said, “but I think he’s handling it with grace. I wish him well, just not in (this series).”
Jayson Tatum tallied 32 points and 11 rebounds as the Celtics won 124-109 on Friday. Lee exchanged hugs with several of the Celtics on the court following the final buzzer.
So now it’s back-to-back nights for the Hornets to try to breakthrough against the Celtics.
Charlotte’s Grant Williams and Miles Bridges were both ejected Friday night, and the Hornets’ LaMelo Ball also was whistled for a flagrant foul. Williams’ foul on Tatum could have led to bigger problems.
“I’m glad that he’s fine,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said of Tatum. “What I like most is that he jumped right up, didn’t lay around, didn’t really faze him. … I’m happy that he’s OK. I just like how JT handled it.”
Still, the Celtics were irked by Williams — who played for Boston from 2019-20 to 2022-23.
“It was for-sure intentional,” Brown said. “Y’all see the same play? He hit him like it was a football play, like Ray Lewis coming across the middle.”
Williams told NBC Sports Boston, “Probably not a hard foul, definitely not intentional. Not trying to hurt anybody. We all know that’s one of my closest friends in the league.”
Lee has a tight connection with Mazzulla, so maybe that helped prevent larger-scale problems.
“He is just so open-minded, so creative,” Lee said of Mazzulla. “He just goes with his guts. If it’s something that he believes in, that he believes is going to help the team, he does it with full-on passion. I really admire that about him. It’s something that I try to do myself.”
The Celtics responded from their first loss of the season to win two nights later in Charlotte. They outscored the Hornets 24-10 across the final 7 1/2 minutes, with 15 of those Boston points coming on free throws.
Lee was assessed a fourth-quarter technical foul after he complained about a no-call when Charlotte’s Tre Mann drove into the lane.
Perhaps it was part of the Hornets’ frustration. By game’s end, there were 47 free throws attempted, but of those only 12 taken by the Hornets.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Mazzulla was assessed a technical foul with the Celtics holding a one-point lead.
The Hornets had to like the performance of Ball, who put up 31 points in 31 minutes, though he fouled out. His four turnovers weren’t overly troublesome, but he had only four assists.
The Hornets will be interested in seeing more from Tidjane Salaun, a 19-year-old rookie who scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench Friday night.
“I loved his energy tonight, I thought he gave us a great boost,” Lee said. “He’s grasping the speed of the game. … I really like him out there because he brings another layer of length and athleticism.”
The Celtics will want to check on their perimeter defense after surrendering 19 3-pointers. Six Charlotte players had two or more treys.
