Nor it has been, of course, a quiet offseason for none of the teams that faced each other yesterday. Certainly nothing at all for the locals, who open the doors of the TD Garden for the first time, since staying at the gates of the eighteenth ring, has interim coach Joe Mazzulla behind the affair Udoka. Needless to say, if the Udoka issue weighs on a chaos-prone roster, it won’t be checked in a preseason game. Charlotte Hornets have not had it easy either after the arrest and the serious accusations against Miles Bridges of domestic violence.
However, the Celtics returned to the preseason opener even with the great dynamic of last season. Mazzulla apost entry with a cinco small ball (Smart-Brown-White-Tatum-Horford). Opposite Charlotte without fanfare in his quintet (Ball-Oubre Jr.-Rozier-Washington-Plumlee) and without being able to count on Gordon Hayward or Cody Martin, the eastern champions watched from tata in the first twelve minutes, holding Jaylen Brown’s beat, 9 points in the first quarter and the game’s top scorer (24 points), but the game would soon break up in the second. Seconded by a powerful exterior success (48% in triples) opened the gap with a partial 13-2stepping on the accelerator not to stop (68-46 at halftime).
A decisive bench
The non-starters were the big difference that dynamited the beatingalready in the second part. Those from Mazzulla overwhelmed their rivals on that plot (72-39 in points) unable to generate baskets in fluid play, test Boston’s 41 assists versus Charlotte’s 13. grand debut of Vollehwith 7 points and 9 rebounds in 13 minutes for the forward released by the Brooklyn Nets; Mfiondu Kabengele (10 points and 3 rebounds in 11 minutes) and above all, the great incorporation of the offseason: Malcolm Brogdon, the points that Brad Stevens lacked in the rotation of the last play-offs. Also featured in the greens Sam Hauser (14 points, 4/5 in triples).
Contrast banking celtic with the action of the reserve hornet. 0/9 from the bench in triples. Discreet match of drafteados like James Bouknight o Mark Williams, unable none to exceed 2 pointswith 1/9 in field goals and 0/4 in triples from Uconn in 20 minutes and only three rebounds in 11 minutes from Duke’s pvot. They saved faceMcDaniels (10 points in 19 minutes) y Nick Richards (6 points and 7 rebounds).
Boston y Charlotte they will see each other again this preseason (October 8, 1:30 AM) in North Carolina, but first the Celtics will host Toronto Raptors (October 6, 1:30 AM) and the Hornets at Indiana Pacers (October 6, 1:00 AM).