CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Jayson Tatum had 51 points, including seven 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets for the second time in three days, 130-118, for their seventh straight victory.
Derrick White added 19 points and eight assists and Malcolm Brogdon scored 16 for the Celtics, who improved to 33-12 on the season – maintaining the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Tatum was 15 of 23 from the field and 14 of 14 from the foul line, AP reported.
Jalen McDaniels led the Hornets with a career-high 26 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
LaMelo Ball finished with 25 points on 8-of-23 shooting. Mason Plumlee had perhaps his best all-around game of the season, with 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Hornets (11-34), who´ve lost eight of their last nine games.
The Celtics set the tone early, jumping out to a 35-22 lead in the first quarter after holding the Hornets to 28.6 per cent shooting from the floor.
The Celtics, meanwhile, hit 6 of 13 3s in the first quarter. Boston finished with 20 3-pointers.
Charlotte cut the lead to 100-98 early in the fourth quarter, but White was fouled by Dennis Smith Jr. on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws.
A short while later, the Celtics got three long offensive rebounds before White grabbed the ball and drove to the rim and scored to increase the lead with 6:34 left, causing Hornets coach Steve Clifford to punch the air in frustration.
Elsewhere, LeBron James had a season-high 48 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in his third 40-point performance since turning 38 less than three weeks ago, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a three-game skid with a 140-132 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Russell Westbrook scored 24 for the Lakers, who never pulled away in another poor defensive game, but also set a franchise record by committing just two turnovers.
James’ brilliance in the 100th 40-point outing of his career – including the postseason – was just enough to hold off Houston. He scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, going 9 for 9 at the free throw line.
“I was extremely exhausted today,” James said. “I could have very easily took tonight off, but … our ballclub couldn´t use me taking a night off, I didn´t feel like. I wanted to sit on that loss with Philly last night. I wanted to get that out of my taste buds and see if we could win a ballgame tonight. It was a complete team effort, and I just tried to make plays.”
“That ranks right at the top,” said Rockets coach Stephen Silas, an assistant on James´ first two teams in Cleveland. “I´ve seen him have some really good (performances), and that was in the top five for sure.”
