The Celtics were down double digits early to a young, up-and-coming Hornets team and in desperate need of a boost. Jabari Parker provided that boost, dropping 11 points in five and a half minutes en route to his best performance as a Celtic this season.
Without Al Horford, head coach Ime Udoka felt Parker matched up well against the Hornets. “They [Charlotte] don’t have a lot of bigs, you know Plumlee is mainly their one guy,” Udoka said. “We knew they would come off the bench with [Jalen] McDaniels and the kid, [Nick] Richards.