Tatum erupts for 51 points, Celtics notch seventh straight win with victory over Hornets

BOSTON -- Another big game for Jayson Tatum, another win for the Boston Celtics. Tatum scored 51 points in Monday afternoon 's 130-118 win over the Hornets in Charlotte, making it seven straight victories for Boston.

Tatum had just about everything going, hitting 15 of his 23 shot attempts. He was 7-for-12 from three-point range, and a perfect 12-for-12 at the free throw line. He added nine rebounds and five assists in his latest MVP entry.

He was locked in when it mattered most, too. The Hornets wouldn't go away, but Tatum wouldn't let them sting the C's, scoring 18 of his 51 in the fourth quarter.

Derrick White added 19 points and eight assists, while Malcolm Brogdon scored 16 off the bench for the Celtics. Boston's ball movement was on point, with the team registering 34 assists on 43 made buckets.

The Celtics built a nice lead at the end of the first quarter with a 10-0 run, fueled by both the team's offense and its defense. Tatum did pretty much whatever he wanted, and the Hornets went nearly four minutes without a field goal.

Tatum played the entire opening frame and had 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists at the end of the quarter. Boston led 35-22, recording assists on 12 of the team's first 13 buckets.

The Celtics held an 11-point lead at halftime, 66-55, as Tatum added nine more points in the second quarter. Brogdon, despite being bloodied for a moment after a collision with LaMelo Ball, had 16 points in 14 first-half minutes off the bench.

The Hornets picked up their fight out of the half, cutting it to a 68-63 game early in the third quarter. But Boston rattled off another 10-0 run to go back up by 15, capped off by a Tatum three off a nice up-fake.

Charlotte took advantage of some sloppy Celtics play on both ends of the floor to close the third though, going on a 10-0 run of its own to close the quarter. Mark Williams and former Celtic Terry Rozier had two buckets apiece during the run, while P.J. Washington hit a pair of free throws. The Celtics, meanwhile, went scoreless over the final 3:38 of the quarter and led just 92-86 heading into the fourth quarter.

Ball got hot for Charlotte in the fourth, and the Hornets had it to a one-possession game early in the quarter, but second-chance points were Boston's best friend. Extra effort on the offensive glass sparked a 6-0 Celtics run, with Luke Kornet putting home a rare Tatum miss and White banking one in off a third chance for Boston.

Tatum clanged home a three with 5:21 left to build the Boston lead back to 10 points, 113-103. Charlotte kept coming though, and five straight points by Rozier had the Boston lead back down to five with just over four minutes left.

That's when Tatum took over one final time. He would have none of the Charlotte comeback bid, and scored 13 points over the final four minutes. He sank a three with 38 seconds left to give him 51 points on the night, with the Charlotte crowd chanting "MVP! MVP!" as Tatum brought the ball up the court. They all seemed pretty happy when he drained the shot to go over the 50-point threshold.

Monday was Tatum's first 50-point game of the 2022-23 season and the fifth of his career in the regular season, passing Larry Bird for the most all-time in a Celtics uniform. Add in the playoffs and the NBA's play-in tournament, and Tatum has seven 50-point games under his belt.

The Celtics improved their  NBA-best record to 33-12 with Monday's win. They return home for a big game against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.