Will the Hornets remain undefeated?

The Charlotte Hornets await the Boston Celtics on the fourth day of the new NBA season. The home side has made a great start to the new season: They won all three of their opening games and recently even beat the top favourites for the title from Brooklyn away from home.

The visitors were defeated by the Knicks in a spectacular first game of the season after two overtimes. Jaylen Brown, who scored a new career-best 46 points despite being fresh out of quarantine due to a Covid illness, was convincing.

Only on the last matchday was it enough for Boston to get their first win of the season against Houston. For the clash at the Spectrum Center between the Charlotte Hornets and Boston Celtics, the tip includes a home win.

CHARLOTTE HORNETS – STATISTICS & CURRENT FORM

The Charlotte Hornets have been waiting five seasons for their next postseason appearance. Head coach James Borrego is now making the next attempt and can rely on a powerful squad. The squad is particularly convincing because of its age mix.

In addition to young players like Miles Bridges or P. J. Washington, the team features seasoned players like Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward. For the latter small forward, the duels with Boston are always something special, because the games are against his old team colleagues.

Ball is about to take the next step

Charlotte should also benefit from LaMelo Ball’s growing experience this season. Last season’s Rookie of the Year will undoubtedly step up in his second year in the NBA, and there’s no questioning his fundamentally sound talent after a great debut season anyway.

In the season opener against the Pacers, he also set a new record: Ball is now the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 30 points and five rebounds and assists in a season opener.

Newcomer Mason Plumlee had an encouraging start. The former Nets and Nuggets player was the Hornets’ best rebounder with ten.

Strong start to season thanks to reliable offense

In retrospect, the win at the start of the season was no flash in the pan: With victories against Cleveland and Brooklyn, the strong early form was clearly confirmed. Especially the offensive is already at operating temperature: Only the Knicks and Pacers have scored more points per game in the East so far.

Against this background, the odds on the home side scoring more than 111.5 points in the duel between the Hornets and Celtics are also of interest. A number that Charlotte has surpassed in two of its three league games so far and recently fell just short of with 111 against Boston.

Projected Charlotte Hornets lineup:
Bridges – Hayward – Plumlee – Ball – Oubre

Boston Celtics – Statistics & current form

The Boston Celtics installed a new coach in the off-season: instead of Brad Stevens, Ime Udoka now holds the job at the 17-time champions. Stevens, however, remains prominent in the franchise as he continues to serve as general manager with the record-breaking champions. For his part, Udoka takes on the first head coaching job of his career.

The former LA Lakers and Sacramento Kings player, however, has been a co-coach in the NBA for nine years – most recently with the Brooklyn Nets alongside Steve Nash. In Boston, Udoka is expected to bring back success. Last season, the Celtics fell short of expectations, finishing the regular season with a winning percentage of just 50 per cent.

This was the worst record since the 2014/15 season. They still managed to make the playoffs, but they lost 4-1 to the Nets in the first round.

Schroeder is now a Celtic

To make things better, the squad has been changed in a number of positions. One powerful new addition is German Dennis Schröder. After a year in Los Angeles with the Lakers, which did not go well for the man from Braunschweig, the guard wants to take off again in Boston.

In addition, Enes Kanter was signed as a backup for the centre position. Kanter already played for the Celtics between 2019 and 2020 and is an experienced player at the five with his 29 years.

The “big man” for the starting five is also new: the role is now to be performed by Al Horford, who was previously under contract with Oklahoma City Thunder. The five-time All-Star moves up to second place in Boston, at least in terms of salary, and is expected to bring the defence back its old stability.

In exchange, point guard Kemba Walker was dealt to OKC, who immediately shipped him on to the Knicks.

Duo of Tatum and Brown represents key personnel pillar

The focus, however, remains on Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Both players were nominated as All-Stars last year and are still comparatively young at 23 and 24 years of age. Two players of this extra class under the age of 25, whose qualities stand out high on both ends of the court, can only be discovered in a few representatives in the NBA.

However, the start for the franchise from the Atlantic Division was sobering. After losses to the Knicks and Raptors, they won for the first time in their last game against the Rockets from Houston, who are in the process of rebuilding.

In view of this, the odds on a home win with at least a three-point difference in the game between the Charlotte Hornets and Boston Celtics also offer sufficient value.

Predicted Boston Celtics line-up:
Brown – Tatum – Smart – Williams – Williams III

Charlotte Hornets – Boston Celtics Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

In their last head-to-head meeting last April, the Beantown hoopsters scored a 120-111 home win, but were soundly defeated 104-125 at the Spectrum Center. The overall record was 2-1 in favour of Boston.

The visitors’ recent record in away games has also been positive: six of the last ten away games in North Carolina have been won. For the next edition of Charlotte vs. Celtics, the odds are very evenly distributed.

Charlotte Hornets – Boston Celtics Tip

Charlotte is in second place in the Eastern Conference and is the only unbeaten team besides Chicago and Washington. The team from the Southeast Division has been particularly convincing on the offensive end with an average of 119 points and Miles Bridges has been particularly strong in this area with two games in which he scored at least 30 points.

For the game between the Charlotte Hornets and Boston Celtics, the tip is for a fourth win in a row for the basketball team from the Queen City. In addition to the strong performances of the home side so far, the shaky condition of the visitors from Massachusetts speaks in favour of the prediction.

Only in the last game against Houston did the Celtics land their first win and the Texans are unquestionably one of the weaker teams this season, which is why the triumph was not much more than a must-win.

Furthermore, Jaylen Brown has been missing on the side of the nine-time Eastern Conference winners due to an injury, which means that the use of the powerful shooting guard against the Hornets is not yet certain. Unibet offers odds of 1.95 for the Hornets-Celtics clash.