Jaylen Brown sees shades of Celtics in up-and-coming Hornets ‘ready to play’

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown was impressed by the No. 9 seed Charlotte Hornets after Tuesday night’s matchup at TD Garden. In fact, he said it was almost like going up against a much younger version of the C’s.

In a potential first-round playoff preview, it took a come-from-behind rally for the Celtics to overcome the NBA’s third-youngest team. Ten days ago in Charlotte, Boston clinched a playoff berth without Brown and Derrick White. This time, to close out the regular-season series, the Celtics prevailed with a 113-102 victory, leaving Brown taking note of Charlotte’s (awfully familiar) young core before a possible postseason reunion.

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“This team kind of reminds me of us when we were younger,” Brown told NBC’s Ashley ShahAhmadi. “Young group, shoot the ball well, got a lot of different guys that can beat you, and have a fearlessness. So they came out ready to play.”

Coming off a win over the Toronto Raptors — another possible playoff foe — on Sunday, the Celtics knew opponents would bring a greater sense of urgency in the final weeks of the regular season. The Hornets sit just half a game behind the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers, which is the difference between the ninth seed and the sixth seed. Charlotte also trails Toronto by 1½ games with two left to play, which could determine whether they enter the play-in tournament or punch a first-round ticket against the New York Knicks.

So Brown wasn’t surprised by how the Hornets came out.

“Give credit to Charlotte,” Brown told reporters, per CLNS Media. “I think it was a must-win game for them, and they came out like it. They came out trying to blow up screens. They came out playing with a different intensity level than we did to start the game.”

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In the first quarter, the Hornets outscored the Celtics, 31-20, by sinking 7-of-17 3-point attempts. Boston struggled to keep up as Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball began taking over.

Ball finished with a game-high 36 points, shooting 12-of-14 with six 3-pointers. Several of his makes were 2K-esque, including his 35-foot stepback three over White and a…

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Publish date : 2026-04-08 09:14:00

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