Celtics fall behind, come back, but lose in the end; Rinse and repeat

Today is one of those days where it's hard to be optimistic about the Celtics chances in the upcoming playoffs. The Celtics were as close to a full roster as one can expect and still managed to get waxed by the Charlotte Hornets. Yes, Robert Williams was out and in different circumstances Evan Fournier would be getting back into shape on the side after his bout with COVID and not on the floor, but the Hornets were without LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, and Malik Monk so the Hospital Celtics excuse doesn't really fly today.

The Celtics made one 64 second run where Marcus Smart got the Celtics back within striking distance (two steals, two 3-pointers, and four FT's in that burst for Smart). As is ofen the case though, when you build up a big deficit, you tend to not have enough gas to pull off the comeback to get back in the game and the win. You're free to scroll down and look at the box score for Celtics positives, but if you really want to spin this more positively for Boston you'd be better off tipping your cap to the Hornets. Charlotte out on an assist clinic and four of their starters ended up withg double digit scoring. Again, this was without two of their best players and another key rotation piece.

The undermanned Hornets playing well doesn't take the Celtics off the hook though.

More visual reactions here: https://twitter.com/celticslife/status/1386410198185648131