Charlotte Turned It Over 30 Times. Boston Barely Had to Ask for the Damn Ball.

Boston beat Charlotte 114–93 Wednesday night, and this was one of those preseason games where the score honestly doesn't explain how ugly it got. The Hornets turned the ball over 30 times; the Celtics had 11 total turnovers. Boston came away with 16 steals, 31 assists and 56 points in the paint to Charlotte's 20. That's not just Charlotte missing shots. That's a whole offense repeatedly failing to finish the possession with a shot at all.

Boston: everybody was involved

Jayson Tatum led Boston with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 29 minutes. Derrick White contributed 17 on 6-for-9 shooting, and Neemias Queta had 16. Payton Pritchard scored only seven, but handed out 11 assists with zero turnovers. I pay attention to that more than I do somebody hitting five contested threes in a meaningless preseason quarter. You can look at Boston's distribution and actually see a team with an idea of how it wants to play.

The Celtics shot 48 percent overall despite just 28 percent from three. They didn't need to rain jumpers because their pressure kept giving them extra opportunities. Charlotte actually shot a higher three-point percentage, 38 percent, but that wasn't fixing the possession problem. Boston scored 27 points from Hornets turnovers. Charlotte got just 12 points off Celtics giveaways.

Charlotte: there were positives, but nobody can ignore the mistakes

Brandon Miller and Tidjane Salaun scored 16 apiece. Salaun made four of eight threes and gave Charlotte a little perimeter punch. Miller's 16 came on 4-for-17 shooting, though, including 3-for-10 from beyond the arc. Royce O'Neale hit all four of his threes for 12 points; he also committed five turnovers. Those shooting flashes don't erase what the team gave away. When you turn it over 30 times, you're essentially handing a better-organized opponent an entire extra quarter's worth of chances.

Charlotte entered the fourth trailing 85–77 and lost that period 29–16. That matters: it wasn't a team that never had a chance to fight. It was a team that couldn't maintain enough discipline to finish. Even with young-player evaluation being the purpose of preseason, passing to the wrong jersey over and over is not a growth strategy.

6ix Take: I need fundamentals before mixtape highlights

I'm not about to declare Boston a championship lock off one exhibition. But I absolutely would be embarrassed if I coached Charlotte and watched 30 turnovers against one team. Nobody's asking for every guard to become Chris Paul. At least get into the set, make a decision and stop losing the ball before the play even starts. Boston's offense looked connected, and its defense had actual teeth. Charlotte can keep the individual flashes; I'd rather see those young mfs finish a possession.

The next thing I want to see is whether Boston's ball movement holds against a full regular-season rotation, and whether Charlotte can cut its turnover total without turning every guard passive. Both are measurable. That's a better takeaway than pretending this was just Tatum versus Miller.