Tatum rocked White’s signature white tights, while White sported a single leg sleeve like Tatum. White even mirrored Tatum’s full pregame warmup and mimicked his scoring celebrations throughout the game.

“Since we probably won’t play next game, (White) said at shootaround this morning (that) we should do a headband game,” said Jayson Tatum in an interview via the Boston Herald. “Somebody, one of the trainers, may have mentioned if D-White, like, dressed like me during the game. So it was kind of like their idea, and I just agreed to it and ran with it.”

The Celtics overpowering the Hornets

John Jones-Imagn Images

Derrick White paced all Celtics starters with 19 points on an efficient 8-for-12 shooting night, adding seven assists, three boards, and four blocks. Jayson Tatum contributed 16 points, eight dimes, and eight rebounds in the win.

Al Horford recorded his sixth double-double since February began, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Off the bench, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser combined for 42 points, shooting a scorching 16-for-23 from the floor and 10-for-14 from beyond the arc.

In a departure from his usual rotation, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla kept his starters on the floor for 10 straight minutes to open the game, with Tatum and Jrue Holiday both playing the entire quarter.

Celtics forward Jaylen Brown sat out for the second game in a row as he continued to manage a lingering knee issue, but the Celtics had most of their regulars ready for what appeared to be their final dress rehearsal before the playoffs. The Hornets, holding the NBA’s third-worst record, played shorthanded with top scorers LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller already shut down for the season and Miles Bridges sidelined by a hip injury.

The Celtics finishing with a 60-win season

Boston, which finished 64-18 during its 2024 championship run, hadn’t recorded back-to-back 60-win seasons since the stretch from 2007 to 2009. The franchise has now hit that milestone in an impressive 19 percent of its 79 seasons. The only other team with double-digit 60-win campaigns is the Los Angeles Lakers, who have done it 11 times.

When the game wrapped up, the Celtics finally saw their playoff path take shape. The Atlanta Hawks secured the No. 8 seed in the East by knocking off the Philadelphia 76ers, setting up a Play-In clash against the seventh-seeded Orlando Magic on Tuesday in Orlando. The winner earns a first-round matchup with Boston, while the loser must face the 9-vs.-10 winner for one last shot at challenging the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Celtics can notch their 61st win if they take care of business against the Hornets again in Sunday’s regular-season finale. After that, they’ll wipe the slate clean and write a new target on the locker room whiteboard — 16 wins, the number it takes to capture another championship.