CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ When a team takes roughly twice as many free throws as its opponent, and is playing at home, that home team should generally win.
Instead, the Charlotte Hornets suffered their first loss of the season at the 3-point line, both offensively and defensively. The difference in a 104-98 Boston Celtics victory is the Celtics made a lot of 3-pointers and the Hornets made few of theirs.
The Hornets dropped to 2-1, despite taking 33 free throws to the Celtics' 17.
The Hornets were coming off a road victory Friday in Miami and didn't get back to Charlotte until around 3 a.m. The Celtics had an off night Friday in Charlotte, so they were well rested. The home crowd at Spectrum Center wasn't enough to overcome that.
Kemba Walker led the Hornets in scoring with 29. Avery Bradley was top scorer for the Celtics with 30.
The Celtics shot 15-for-31 from the 3-point line, while the Hornets were 9-for-32.
