Payton Pritchard, Celtics’ backups beat Hornets to close out regular season

Four days after being blown off the floor by the Orlando Magic the Celtics backups redeemed themselves Sunday With Boston s top six players all resting ahead of the playoffs its bench bodies outlasted the Charlotte Hornets - at TD Garden to close out the regular season Payton Pritchard paced the Celtics with points on -for- shooting plus seven assists and six rebounds Sam Hauser went -for- from deep and scored points in his minutes and Luke Kornet finished with points eight rebounds two assists and four blocks Pritchard Hauser and Kornet were the only Celtics rotation players who suited up for the meaningless tournament with the rest of Boston s minutes going to deep reserves who rarely see action when the company is at full strength JD Davison who had his two-way contract converted to a standard NBA deal on Saturday scored seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter helping the Celtics secure the win after they squandered a -point first-half lead Second-year pro Jordan Walsh added points eight rebounds two steals and a block in his minutes off the bench Jayson Tatum Jaylen Brown Derrick White Jrue Holiday Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford all sat out for Boston All six watched at least part of the competition from the bench in street clothes White did so with his young son on his lap Barring any additional injuries those six players will be back in the fold when the - Celtics begin their first-round playoff series next weekend As the No seed in the Eastern Conference they ll face either the Magic or the Atlanta Hawks pending the end of Tuesday s -vs - play-in challenge Head coach Joe Mazzulla declared he s confident Brown who missed the final three regular-season games with a lingering knee injury will be available for Contest The Celtics shot out to a - lead in Sunday s finale with all of those points coming from Pritchard Hauser and Kornet They led - after one and stretched their cushion to points during the second quarter Two-way players Drew Peterson and Miles Norris both contributed to that Celtics surge with Peterson hitting a -pointer and blocking a shot at the rim leading to a fast-break lob dunk by Kornet at the other end Boston s shooters went cold over the final four minutes of the first half however and the Hornets seized control of the event They cut Boston s lead to points by halftime then got to within four midway through the third quarter Moussa Diabate s dunk with remaining in the third put Charlotte in front - the first lead for the visitors since the meeting s opening minute The Celtics took a - lead into the fourth quarter Davison who did not play in the second and third quarters opened the fourth with an -foot floater followed by a steal that led to a Pritchard three This was Davison s first championship as a full-time NBA athlete after three seasons mostly spent in the G League where he earned The greater part Valuable Sportsman honors this season The Celtics promoted the -foot- guard their final open -man roster spot After another Pritchard -pointer and up-close makes by Kornet and Pritchard Davision added a three of his own off a Pritchard offensive rebound putting the Celtics ahead - with to play Another Boston cold streak ensued and Charlotte tied the encounter at - Davison broke that deadlock with a tough driving layup Less than a minute later he unveiled Walsh for a -pointer that effectively iced the tournament with remaining It was a rare opportunity for Davison and Walsh the Celtics draft picks in and respectively to contribute in crunch time Boston s draftee Baylor Scheierman had a shakier offensive outing going -for- and -for- from -point range across his minutes Scheierman did notch seven assists five rebounds two assists and four steals though and was a plus- in the win second-best on the gang behind Neemias Queta s plus-