Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 31 points, and the Boston Celtics defeated the Charlotte Hornets 131-98 on Friday night.

Pritchard added 11 assists for his second double-double of the season, helping the Celtics avoid dropping three games in a row for the first time since 2010-11.

Luke Kornet finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta each had 16 points for Boston, which led by as many as 33 points and committed only six mistakes.

Pritchard will be called on to come off the bench in the playoffs, and coach Joe Mazzulla said his performance reflected how much he has matured and bought into his job this season.

“Just being a complete player from the standpoint of every game is going to be different,” Mazzulla said in an interview. “He influences the game in a variety of ways. Obviously, having a steady role throughout the season is really beneficial.

The Celtics’ top six rotation players, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford, all sat out with nagging injuries on what was basically a rest night. Boston has already clinched the Eastern Conference’s top seed and will have home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

They will most likely get another day off on Sunday when Boston finishes its regular season against Washington.

That will most likely result in another start for Pritchard, who is hoping to play in all 82 regular-season games for the first time in his four-year career.

“It’s definitely a big accomplishment for me,” Pritchard added. “Playing 82 games is difficult, but the work I did throughout the summer to prepare my body for it helped. But also simply my journey, last year, my second year, of not playing at all, how frustrating and painful that was at times. But that only encouraged me to keep working.”

Tre Mann paced the Hornets with 19 points and eight assists. Nick Smith Jr. tallied 15 points.

The absences allowed the Celtics to give rookie Jordan Walsh some playing time and call up two-way players Queta, JD Davison, and Drew Peterson from the G League to fill in, a night after they all played with Maine at Oklahoma City in Game 2 of the G League Finals. Maine faces Oklahoma City Blue in Portland on Sunday to determine the G League champion.

The Hornets have been out of postseason contention since March 23 and played without former Celtics Grant Williams (sprained right ankle) and Nick Richards (right plantar fascia).

UP NEXT

The Hornets will play their regular-season finale on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Celtics will host the Wizards in their final game on Sunday.