Thursday was the last practice game for the Charlotte Hornets before the regular season starts in 2023–24. The Boston Celtics beat them badly. They fell behind early in the first quarter and lost 127–99. They were ahead only for the first two minutes of the game.

As soon as the game started, Hornets coach Steve Clifford started pulling players from the bench. Charlotte players like Brandon Miller, Frank Ntilikina, and J.T. Thor got early chances off the bench. Miller blocked Jayson Tatum and made a basket with a clutch block. Still, the Celtics were ahead 34–19 after 12 minutes. Of course, this is still just the training, right? Still, it’s a good sign of where things might go.

As the second quarter went on, the Celtics kept burying the Hornets by making triples and taking the ball away. Miller stole the ball and got away, but he tripped and couldn’t make the shot. The Hornets had trouble moving the ball because LaMelo Ball came off the bench and back on, and Charlotte tried to stack their players in different ways. The Celtics were ahead 61–34 with 2:30 left in the first half.Charlotte tried to get back into the game, but lost 66–40 at the half. But it wasn’t enough to make a difference, not against the Celtics’ experienced team, not even their backups.

The good and bad were clear: Boston’s Jaylen Brown scored 18 points in the first 17 minutes and was on fire. In the first half, the Hornets only made 2 of 17 three-point shots. We were in the third quarter, and the score was 100-65. The Hornets kept losing the ball. It was a tough loss for Charlotte, even though the Hornets went on a 12-0 run to end the game.

Mark Williams was the best of the night.

Starting Hornets center Mark Williams continues to show how important he is to this Charlotte team, even though the team had a bad game overall. Last season, the second-year Hornet from Duke showed his skills on both ends of the court. However, he hurt his thumb near the end of the season and had to miss a lot of games. Is this the year he shows how good he really is, at least on a national level? The calm player doesn’t blink as he taps in other players’ missed shots and gets his own rebounds. Thursday, he scored eight points, grabbed seven boards, and passed the ball four times.

Hornets Couldn’t Make It Happen: Worst of the Night

Also, that’s only one Hornets win in the 2023–24 preseason. That’s still one more than in the 2022–23 preseason. Without a doubt, the Hornets had trouble beating a strong Boston group and even their good backups. It’s true that the Charlotte team is young, but it has a lot of possible. Still, if they want to be a good team, they need to learn how to play against the best teams in the NBA.