Bobcats at Celtics
The Boston Celtics collected four losses in the first six days of the season before turning their ship around and pointing it toward first place in the Atlantic Division. The Celtics have gotten their offense going in the last two contests and will go for their fifth consecutive victory when the Charlotte Bobcats visit on Wednesday. Boston, which averaged 115.5 points in wins against Miami and Orlando, faces a Charlotte team that has dropped two in a row after winning three of four.
Backcourt mates Avery Bradley and Jordan Crawford combined for 40 points and the Celtics shot 60 percent from the field to beat Orlando 120-105 on Monday. “We’ve grown a lot offensively,” Bradley told reporters. “At the beginning of the year, it was stagnant. Now we’re moving the ball a lot.” Charlotte’s inside force Al Jefferson, who had missed five games with an ankle injury, scored 10 points in his return Monday during the 103-94 loss to Atlanta.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Charlotte), CSN Boston
ABOUT THE BOBCATS (3-4): Charlotte was out of sync in Jefferson’s return and coach Steve Clifford said he used him more than expected because “we are better when he’s on the floor.” Leading scorer Kemba Walker will look to rebound after a 3-of-11 shooting performance against Atlanta while Gerald Henderson was held to 11 points after averaging almost 20 the previous three. Josh McRoberts is coming off one of his best performances in a Bobcats’ uniform with 19 points, seven assists and five 3-pointers.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (4-4): Boston is averaging 104.8 points over the last four games - 17.3 more than the opening four - and the switch of Crawford to point guard and Bradley to the wing has been one of the reasons. Bradley is averaging 18.3 points over the last three and Crawford had a season-high 10 assists Monday. Rookie Kelly Olynyk had a season-best 16 points Monday and Jared Sullinger has scored in double figures the last five games while Jeff Green leads the Celtics in scoring at 16.9.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Walker has played in all 155 regular-season games since being drafted in 2011 and leads that class in minutes played – 4,857.
2. Boston’s Brad Stevens is only the second coach in NBA history to lose his first four games (or more) and follow that with a win streak that brought his team to .500. Rick Adelman did it with Portland in 1989.
3. Charlotte G Ramon Sessions is in the top 10 of the league in average free throws made (5.9) and attempted (7.3) per game.