The Charlotte Hornets are in a full-blown freefall, reeling from five straight losses, and their offense looks totally broken right now. This isn’t just a tough stretch; their 3-6 record screams that this young core just can’t find its rhythm. While the Boston Celtics are cruising with a 6-2 start, Charlotte fans are watching their squad just fade away. The gap between these two teams has never felt wider, especially after Wednesday night’s mess.
Shooting Woes Are Crushing Charlotte’s Hopes
Look, Brandon Miller has got to start hitting shots if the Hornets want any chance at winning. Period. He went a brutal 2-for-15 from the floor against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. Even worse? A nightmare 1-for-10 from three-point range. Coach Charles Lee tried to spin it, staying positive about Miller’s defense, but let’s be real: you need the offense to be firing on all cylinders to even sniff a win against a top team like Boston. The entire team could only muster 12 three-pointers in that loss. Grayson Allen dropped five of those, but it was nowhere near enough. It’s a team-wide shooting crisis, and it’s haunting them, even when they’re getting good looks. The Hornets are generating high-quality opportunities, according to Field Level Media, but they simply cannot convert those chances into points. When the offense stalls this hard, the defense has to work double duty. That is a heavy, heavy lift against a deep Boston squad.
Boston Is Ready to Punish Every Mistake
Meanwhile, the Celtics are a different kind of beast. They showed it Wednesday night, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 109-102 even *without* Jayson Tatum. Tatum sat out for rest, so you know he’s going to be fresh and ready for Friday night. Paul George went off for 25 points in that Bucks game, and Derrick White added 24 points, including an absolutely clutch 11 points in the fourth quarter alone. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has said his team needs the best version of George, and George delivered. Boston proved they can win even when their star is on the bench. The Hornets can’t count on Boston missing players, even if Payton Pritchard might be out Friday with an eye injury he picked up Wednesday. That’s a blow to Boston’s bench scoring, sure, but Boston has won six of its eight games this season. The momentum is all theirs, and that five-game losing streak for Charlotte? That’s going to be brutally hard to snap against a team this hot.
The Hornets have to stop beating themselves. Sion James admitted that after the loss to Brooklyn, saying the team showed flashes but just needs to be more consistent. They lost to the Nets 114-104 at home, extending this brutal slide and absolutely tanking morale. They started the season with hope, but they’re in a deep hole now. Friday night at 7 p.m. ET is their chance to try and reset, but it won’t be easy. Boston is coming off a huge win, full of confidence and depth. Derrick White himself stated they have to go out there and secure a victory. If the Hornets don’t clean up their act, Boston will punish them for every single mistake.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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