As the Celtics, Pistons, and Knicks tussle near the top of the standings, the Eastern Conference’s most dominant team of late has been improbably stacking wins further down.
The young and talented Hornets are finally healthy this season and finding a rhythm under second-year coach Charles Lee. On Wednesday night, the Celtics got a firsthand look at their progress, and it was not pretty.
The Hornets, playing the second end of a back-to-back, stomped into TD Garden and pulverized the Celtics in a wire-to-wire, 118-89, rout to stretch their winning streak to six.
It was Boston’s worst loss of the season, both statistically and optically.
The Hornets, meanwhile, are 16-3 in their last 19 games, and with Wednesday’s win, they moved above .500 for the first time this year, at 32-31. They are unlikely to be a pleasant first-round playoff opponent for any top-tier team.
Derrick White had 29 points and Jaylen Brown added 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists for Boston, but the overall numbers were grisly. The Celtics shot just 38 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from the 3-point line, committing 15 turnovers.
Star rookie Kon Knueppel had 20 points to lead a balanced Hornets attack. Charlotte made 19 of 49 3-pointers (38.8 percent) and committed just four turnovers.
The Celtics started the game by missing eight shots in a row, and things improved only marginally after that.
Yes, the Hornets were playing the second game in as many nights, but by throttling the Mavericks by 27 points on Tuesday, they limited the mileage on their stars to keep them fresher for this high-profile matchup. And in the first half, there were certainly no signs of fatigue. Charlotte opened up an early 8-0 lead.
Before the game, Lee was asked what has changed this season to spark this success. And he said most of all, the team has simply been healthy.
Brandon Miller is the most shining example of this. The forward, who finished third in the 2024 Rookie of the Year voting behind All-Stars Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, was limited to 27 games last season due to injury.
He was also sidelined early this season. But in recent weeks, he has shown flashes of his own All-Star potential. On Wednesday, Miller’s soaring one-handed slam gave Charlotte a 32-18 lead.
Knueppel, who has inched past injured Mavericks star Cooper Flagg to become this season’s Rookie of the Year favorite, made his first four shots, including a 3-pointer and a runner in quick succession that stretched Charlotte’s lead to 42-25.
This season the Celtics have often offset poor shooting nights by crashing for extra opportunities, but they were held without a second-chance point in the first half, with many misses leading to transition chances for Charlotte.
After the Celtics fell behind by 22, Brown brought some life to TD Garden by slicing into the lane for a thunderous one-handed slam over a defender. Baylor Scheierman followed that up with a 3-pointer, leading to a Hornets timeout. But Miller soon responded with a pair of 3-pointers and an 18-footer, helping the Hornets push their lead back to 64-43 at the break.
The Celtics made just 15 of 45 shots and 7 of 21 3-pointers in the first half, while the Hornets went 23 for 44 and 12 for 25, with just two turnovers.
White gave the Celtics a pulse after they fell behind by 23 early in the third. He converted four consecutive baskets in the paint while facing little resistance, then added a pair of free throws that pulled Boston within 70-54.
But back-to-back 3-pointers by Knueppel and Coby White helped extend Charlotte’s lead to 80-58, resetting the Celtics’ long climb.
The third quarter was challenging for Brown. He was called for a rare five-second violation, threw the ball out of bounds, and picked up a technical foul for voicing his frustrations about the lack of a foul call. The Hornets happily took all these things, as well as a 91-68 lead.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [adam.himmelsbach@globe.com](mailto:adam.himmelsbach@globe.com). Follow him [@adamhimmelsbach](https://www.twitter.com/adamhimmelsbach).