All the Boston Celtics can do is continue to lead a healthy lifestyle. Jaylen Brown is rehabbing from a hand sprain, so they’re working on the former. However, they performed admirably on Monday night in Charlotte with the latter. They overcame the Hornets’ tenacious first half and controlled the second to win 118-104.

For Boston, in the absence of his All-NBA colleague, Jayson Tatum led the way. In addition to his 25 points, he had 10 rebounds, four assists, and three stocks. With a tough 20 points, Kristaps Porzingis forced his way to the charity stripe (7-of-8 on freebies) and battled in the paint. Sam Hauser, who finished with 25 points after making seven three-pointers, tied the team leader in scoring. Miles Bridges (26 points) and Brandon Miller (19 points) on the wing led the Hornets’ offensive attack, and old friend Grant Williams added 21 points against his old team.

Charlotte got off to a quick start this evening as the Hornets opened play with a 10-2 run led by Bridges and Miller. A noticeable change from Boston’s dominant defensive performance against New Orleans two nights earlier, it set the tone for an offensive-forward game early on. Both teams shot well from the field in the first quarter, with Bridges (10) and Miller (11), in particular, scoring in double figures. This gave Charlotte a 32-30 lead going into the second quarter.

Derrick White assumed more offensive responsibilities this evening as Jrue Holiday struggled with ineffectiveness (1-of-6 first-half shooting) and Jaylen Brown was out with a hand sprain. After shooting 12 times per game on average for March, White scored 10 points in the first half of the game and concluded with a heavy, by his standards, effort on that end of the court.

Both teams continued to score at a similar rate in the second quarter, with the Celtics countering with a flurry of three-pointers and the Hornets sticking to their effective offensive strategy. The first half saw a massive shooting difference between the two teams: the Celtics made 10 of their 27 three-point tries, while the Hornets only made 4 of 14. But Charlotte’s timely offensive rebounding and superior ball management allowed them to hold strong despite the discrepancy. Though it was a slim margin, Boston ended the first half with their biggest lead of the match. They led 53 to 59 going into the half.

With play restarting, the Celtics extended their lead with diligence and strategy. In the first few minutes of the third quarter, they went on a 14-4 run that increased their lead to double digits. Tatum led the charge, setting the tone with a confident dunk in the middle of the road. The Charlotte offense’s opportunistic play during transition and Vasilije Micic’s rainbow three kept the Celtics from blowing the game wide open, but they still led by 16 points going into the fourth quarter, 95-79.

In response to a three from Bridges, Hauser scored his fourth and then his fifth triple of the game to start the final quarter. With a 19-point lead, the Celtics were ready to overpower Charlotte, but the youthful Hornets showed resilience by standing their ground. Not only did Boston maintain its lead, but it also didn’t shrink; Charlotte never put up a fight again, and Boston won by a score of 14 points.

Next up for the Celtics is a matchup with the playoff-bound Oklahoma City Thunder this Wednesday at 7:30 PM on NBC Sports Boston, one of the few high-profile games left on their schedule.