Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas once again picks apart the Charlotte Hornets

You want no part of Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas in the fourth quarter.

Thomas entered this game with the best fourth-quarter scoring average in the NBA, at 9.8 points. He topped that Monday against the Charlotte Hornets, scoring 17 of his 35 points in the final period of a 108-98 victory at TD Garden.

This victory made the Celtics 3-0 this season against the Hornets, clinching the four-game season series. The Hornets lost their fifth consecutive game, falling to 20-21 for the season. They will play their next five games at the Spectrum Center.

The Hornets are 0-7 combined against the top three teams in the Eastern Conference: the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors and Celtics.

Hornets power forward Marvin Williams had his best scoring game of the season with 23 points. Point guard Kemba Walker finished with 24.

Three who mattered

Walker: His 18 first-half points kept the Hornets in this game.

Thomas: As Hornets coach Steve Clifford noted pregame, 60 percent of his shots are layups.

Williams: He hit three of his first five 3-point attempts.

Observations

▪  Perhaps the biggest thing working against Walker’s All-Star candidacy will be the wealth of quality point guards in the Eastern Conference. In addition to Boston’s Thomas, there is Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and Washington’s John Wall.

▪  The Hornets’ recent defensive struggles conntinued into Monday’s first half, with the Celtics scoring 59 points on 51 percent shooting from the field. The Celtics shot 42 percent from 3-point range.

▪  With Al Horford and Kelly Olynyk as centers, the Celtics might be the most perimeter-oriented team in the NBA. All five positions can make 3s.

▪  Walker’s 13 first-quarter points kept the Hornets in this game when they gave up 34 points in the first 12 minutes.

▪  The Hornets will head back to Charlotte for the longest home stand of the season: Five games at the Spectrum Center over eight days.

Worth mentioning

▪  Hornets reserve guard-forward Jeremy Lamb missed his second consecutive game with an inflamed metatarsal.

▪  The Celtics got back shooting guard Avery Bradley, who had been out since Jan. 7 with a strained right Achilles tendon. Bradley started.

Report card

C- OFFENSE: The Hornets didn’t get nearly enough scoring from the bench, relative to the Celtics’ reserves.

C DEFENSE: The Celtics are a tough matchup problem because even their centers are 3-point shooters.

C COACHING: This team is desperately in need of some home games.

This story was originally published January 16, 2017 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas once again picks apart the Charlotte Hornets."