Celtics beat Hornets 119-80 as Tatum scores 34

The Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets 119-80 on Friday in NBA Cup group play, improving to 2-0 in the competition as Jayson Tatum scored 34 points. Boston built a 31-point halftime lead and won for the seventh time in eight games. Charlotte fell to 0-2 in the tournament and lost its sixth straight game.

Tatum also had nine assists and eight rebounds, while Derrick White scored 18 points. Tatum scored 18 in the first quarter, when Boston opened a 40-20 lead, and had 24 points by halftime. The Celtics made 17 of 31 three-point attempts in the first half and led 70-39 at the break.

Tatum’s first-quarter performance tied Paul Pierce’s Celtics play-by-play-era record of 106 quarters with at least 15 points, according to one account. Tatum made all 11 of his free throws. Payton Pritchard added 12 points off the bench, and Naz Reid led Charlotte with 14.

The Hornets struggled to keep pace with Boston’s shooting. Charlotte made 13 field goals in the first half and finished with 11 of 50 three-point attempts, according to game statistics. Boston’s lead reached 42 points in the third quarter, and Tatum remained in the game until the final minute of that period.