That's why they play the games, folks.
The Boston Celtics entered Charlotte on Sunday as favorites to beat the shorthanded Hornets, who are without Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball.
But the Hornets came out of the gate hot and never looked back, cruising to a 125-104 win at Spectrum Center to hand Boston its third loss in four games.
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Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker each added 20 points for the Celtics while Jayson Tatum tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds. But Charlotte got a combined 87 points out of Devonta Graham (24), P.J. Washington (22), ex-Celtic Terry Rozier (21 and a game-high 11 assists) and Miles Bridges (20) en route to a convincing victory.
Here are the highlights from Sunday's Celtics-Hornets contest:
FINAL SCORE: Hornets 125, Celtics 104
Boston Celtics
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CELTICS' RECORD: 32-29
Celtics vs. Hornets highlights
Marcus Smart knocks down the first of his three 3-pointers early in the game:
Jabari Parker dunk alert!
This didn't look good: Kemba Walker sprinted to the locker room in the second quarter with an apparent hip injury.
Walker returned later in the quarter, however, and appeared no worse for wear.
Celtics defense was lacking on this emphatic Rozier slam:
Smart continued his 3-point barrage to try to keep the Celtics in the game in the third quarter.
Miles Bridges hit a deep 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer that ensured a double-digit lead for Charlotte:
Celtics schedule
Tuesday, April 27: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 7 p.m. ET