Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum drives against Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges during the first half of an NBA game in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday.
AP photo
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Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford, right, argues with referee Brandon Schwab for a foul during the first half of an NBA game against the Boston Celtics in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday. Clifford received a technical foul.
AP photo
Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller shoots over Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday during the first half of an NBA game in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday.
AP photo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Sam Hauser poured in 25 points on seven 3s and the Boston Celtics avenged an early season loss to the Charlotte Hornets with a 118-104 victory on Monday night.
Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points and Derrick White had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who’ve won 11 of their last 13 games.
Hauser finished 7 of 11 from beyond the arc and the Celtics made 19 3s against the Hornets to avenge a 121-118 overtime loss on Nov. 20 in Charlotte when Miles Bridges hit a game-winning 3 with 6.6 seconds left.
Boston (59-16), which has already clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, is now 27-0 this season when it makes at least 18 3s in a game.
Hauser was quick to attribute his hot shooting — many of which were open looks — to Tatum.
“I feel like we are always making the right pass and making the extra reads,” said Hauser, who was 7 of 11 from beyond the arc. “JT (Tatum) draws a lot of traps and and extra help and he’s able to make the right plays out of that.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla credited Hauser for playing confident, while adding his production is a byproduct of what the Celtics do offensively.
“I think just layers of our offense is what unleashes him,” Mazzulla said. “The guys understand that he’s a weapon in different ways, and so when we get to the second and third layer of our offense, especially when teams are guarding us a certain way, it really unleashes guys like Sam. And his teammates continuing to trust him and find him within the layers of our offense.”
Bridges paced the Hornets with 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Grant Williams added 23 points and Brandon Miller 19 points.
Charlotte hung tough for awhile against Boston.
But the Celtics blew the game open in the third quarter, exerting its size advantage as Porzingis scored 11 points to help open a 16-point lead. Porzingis feasted on a Hornets team playing without 7-foot centers Nick Richards and Mark Williams due to injuries.
Hauser then added two dagger 3s in the fourth quarter, stretching the lead to 19. He had five 3s in the second half.
The Celtics dominated the smaller Hornets on the glass 51-40, and grabbed three offensive rebounds on one fourth quarter possession before White scored on a driving layup to put Boston up 111-96 with 5:37 left in the game. The look of exasperation could be seen on the Hornets faces, after being unable to corral a rebound.
Hornets coach Steve Clifford said his team struggled to get its defense set at different times during the game.
“The fastbreak points are totally misleading,” Clifford said. “They only had seven, but they had us on our heels for so many possessions because we just didn’t get ahead of the ball and get our defense set. To me, watching them play, you have to do that. They’re maybe 10th in fastbreak points, but they get the ball up the floor and into things quickly, and those were our worst possessions tonight.”
GRIZZLIES 110, PISTONS 108
DETROIT — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 40 points and Memphis held on for a victory over Detroit.
Cade Cunningham, who finished with 36 points, missed a tying 12-footer as time expired.
Jackson went 13 of 23 from the floor and 12 of 14 from the free-throw line. Former Piston Luke Kennard added 19 points for Memphis, which had lost three straight and seven of eight.
Detroit has lost nine of 10.
MAGIC 104, TRAIL BLAZERS 106
ORLANDO, Fla. — Franz Wagner scored 20 points and Orlando escaped with a win over struggling Portland.
Deandre Ayton missed an open baseline jumper at the final horn for the Blazers, who have lost 10 in a row.
Wendell Carter Jr. had 17 points and 13 rebounds and Jalen Suggs and Paolo Banchero each scored 15 points for the Magic.
Ayton had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Dalano Banton came off the bench with 26 points for Portland. Scoot Henderson, who set up Ayton with the final shot, had 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
PACERS 133, NETS 111
INDIANAPOLIS — Tyrese Haliburton scored 27 points and had 13 assists to lead Indiana to a rout of Brooklyn.
Despite being ejected for a flagrant foul midway through the third quarter, Pacers forward Jalen Smith had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Nets’ Dennis Schroder was called for a technical foul for flailing on the follow-through and hitting Smith’s face. Then Smith was called for a flagrant foul and ejected when he retaliated by pushing Schroder. The two had to be separated.
Pascal Siakam added 15 points and Obi Toppin had 14 for the Indiana.
Cam Thomas scored 22 points, Trendon Watford 21 and Mikal Bridges 19 for the Nets.
HAWKS 113, BULLS 101
CHICAGO — Vit Krejci set career highs with 18 points and six 3-pointers, Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 and Atlanta beat Chicago in a matchup between potential play-in tournament opponents.
Krejci made all six field-goal attempts and surpassed his previous highs of 16 points and four 3s, helping Atlanta win for the fifth time in six games.
Dejounte Murray scored 17 points and Clint Capela added 15 points and 11 rebounds as the 10th-place Hawks moved within a half-game of the ninth-place Bulls in the Eastern Conference. Chicago owns the head-to-head tiebreaker after taking two of three from Atlanta and would host a play-in game if the teams finish tied.
DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 31 points. Coby White scored 22. Ayo Dosunmu added 15 points, and Andre Drummond had 13 points and 18 rebounds.
SUNS 124, PELICANS 111
NEW ORLEANS — Devin Booker scored 52 points, the fifth-highest scoring game of his career, to power Phoenix to a victory over the New Orleans.
Kevin Durant scored 20 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 19 for the Suns, who led by as many as 25 points in the third quarter. New Orleans cut the deficit with a 20-8 run to trail 103-90 entering the fourth quarter.
The Suns built a wall around Zion Williamson on defense, and the Pelicans’ leading scorer didn’t take his first shot until late in the first quarter. Williamson finished with 30 points and five assists. Trey Murphy III added 21 points for New Orleans.