The Boston Celtics faced a tall task on the first leg of their four-game road trip on Sunday night.

For starters, they were facing one of the hottest teams in basketball in the Charlotte Hornets, who were 23-7 over their previous 30 games. They were also missing two starters in Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.

And yet, it didn’t matter. The Celtics pulled ahead early and rolled from there, building a double-digit lead in the second quarter and cruising to a 114-99 victory behind 60 points from Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard. It was their 50th win of the season and also clinched a playoff spot.

After the game, CLNS president John Zannis praised Boston’s execution and resilience in the dominant win.

 

.@John_Zannis is IMPRESSED with the Celtics win in Charlotte:

“This is an insanely impressive win against a team that’s been playing as well as literally anybody right now in the last three months. The Celtics just looked like they were playing at such a ridiculously high level… pic.twitter.com/qcdFMGh4s0

— The Garden Report on CLNS (@TheGardenReport) March 30, 2026

 

“This is an insanely impressive win against a team that’s been playing as well as literally anybody right now in the last three months,” Zannis said on “The Garden Report.” “The Celtics just looked like they were playing at such a ridiculously high level all night long with everything that they were doing.”

Boston won or tied every quarter and won nearly every category as well, including rebounds, assists, turnovers, points in the paint, shooting percentage and points per possession.

It’s a testament to how well the Celtics are playing right now, as they’ve won seven of their last eight games. They’ve hit their stride since Tatum’s return and are firing on all cylinders under Joe Mazzulla.

Boston will try to replicate Sunday’s performance on Monday against the Atlanta Hawks, who are also on fire after going 15-2 over their last 17 games.

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