Payton Pritchard puts up 22 as Celtics crush Hornets

Payton Pritchard came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points and Derrick White added 19 points, seven assists and four blocked shots to lead the Boston Celtics to a 130-94 victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.

Jayson Tatum had 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Boston (60-21), which is locked into the No. 2 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs. Charlotte (19-62) was eliminated from playoff contention last month.

The Celtics led by one point at halftime but outscored the Hornets 76-41 over the final 24 minutes. Al Horford collected 13 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, which didn't play its starters in the fourth quarter. Sam Hauser made 6 of 9 3-point attempts and scored 20 points as the Celtics recovered from a 20-point loss at Orlando on Wednesday.

Seth Curry made 5 of 7 from 3-point range and led Charlotte with 17 points. The Hornets received 14 points from Jusuf Nurkic, 10 points and 12 rebounds from Mark Williams, and 11 points and eight rebounds from KJ Simpson.

The Hornets have lost six in a row overall and eight straight on the road.

Both teams will wrap up the regular season Sunday when they play another game in Boston.

Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who has been dealing with a right knee injury, didn't play Friday. Brown is one of several Boston player who reportedly will sit out on Sunday.

The game was tied 25-25 after one quarter. Charlotte had its largest lead in the game after a Jaylen Sims 3-pointer put the Hornets up 37-30 with 8:03 remaining in the second quarter, but Boston led 54-53 at halftime.

The Celtics began the third with an 11-2 run and outscored the Hornets 37-22 in the quarter to build a 91-75 lead entering the fourth. Tatum scored 11 points in the third, and White shot 4-for-4 while scoring 10 points.

The Friday game was the third meeting between the teams this season. The Celtics won 124-109 on Nov. 1 and 113-103 on Nov. 2, with both games in Charlotte.

--Field Level Media