Tatum scores 34 as Celtics rout Hornets, move to 2-0 in NBA Cup

Jayson Tatum scored 34 points in 29 minutes Friday night, and the Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets 119-80 at Spectrum Center to move to 2-0 in NBA Cup group play. Boston never trailed. Combined with a 125-111 win over Chicago on Oct. 30, the Celtics have outscored their two Cup opponents by 53 points.

Tatum made 9 of 16 shots, 5 of 8 threes and all 11 of his free throws, and added 8 rebounds and 9 assists. Boston outscored Charlotte by 36 points while he was on the floor, and he did not play in the fourth quarter. The win lifted the Celtics to 7-2, while Charlotte fell to 3-7.

From the first possession

Charlotte won the opening tip and missed two threes on its first trip down the floor. On Boston's first possession, Tatum made a three-pointer, the first basket of the game. The Hornets never caught up.

He scored 18 points in the first quarter, two fewer than Charlotte scored as a team. He made 6 of 11 shots in the quarter, including three threes, and made all three of his free throws. He also set up two of Derrick White's threes during an early run, and Boston led 40-20 after one quarter and 70-39 at halftime.

Tatum came out for good with 32.5 seconds left in the third quarter, with Boston ahead 96-57. By then he had scored in every way available to him: threes off the dribble and off passes, layups and free throws, including 8 of 8 at the line in the third quarter alone. Charlotte had no answer for the start, and the game was effectively decided before halftime.

An elite start to the season

The game fits the pattern of Tatum's season. Through eight games he is averaging 27.9 points, 8.0 assists and 6.3 rebounds, and he has been the player the Celtics run their offense through on nights when the shots are falling and on nights when they are not. Against Charlotte, the shots were falling from the start.

What stood out was the efficiency. His 34 points came on 16 shots, and he finished the night without missing a free throw. He was also Boston's lead playmaker: his 9 assists were the most on the team.

The rest of the rout

Boston made 24 of 44 threes and finished with 33 assists to Charlotte's 18. White scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 4 of 6 from three. Payton Pritchard added 12 points off the bench on four threes, and Sam Hauser made 3 of 5 from deep.

Charlotte shot 27 of 92 from the field and 11 of 50 from three. Two of its starters struggled: Grayson Allen went 0 for 5 and Coby White went 1 for 8. Brandon Miller scored 8 points on 3-of-10 shooting in 14 minutes. Grant Williams did not play because of a right hamstring strain.

The usual caution applies. Charlotte is 3-7 and played without one of its veterans, and a 39-point win over a struggling team says more about one night than about the season. Even so, the Celtics turned a road game into a rout in the first quarter.

What it means for the Cup

Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago and Washington make up East Group C. Only the group winner is guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals, and if teams finish with the same record, point differential in group games is the second tiebreaker, behind only head-to-head results.

That makes the 53-point margin more than a talking point. Boston's remaining group games are at Washington on Nov. 24 and at home against Atlanta on Nov. 27, and a cushion like this one could matter if the group comes down to a tie.

What's next

The Celtics play at Milwaukee on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET and at Philadelphia on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Sources: box score and play-by-play data, including Basketball-Reference's box score; Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports on Cup tiebreakers; NBA.com's Group C preview.