Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens has praise for Charlotte Hornets

Stevens respects the way the Hornets play and enjoys watching them.

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

CHARLOTTE -- The Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Hornets are meeting for the third time this season on Tuesday inside the Spectrum Center, and if there's one opposing NBA head coach who has watched the Hornets the most, it might be Brad Stevens.

Ahead of the Tuesday afternoon clash, the Celtics head coach had high praise for the Hornets and seemed to elude to them being one of his go-to picks on League Pass.

"I think they're really skilled and really well-coached. I've watched them a lot. I enjoy watching them play," Stevens said. "I also really like their staff and I just think they do a great job with this team."

Stevens added that one of the reasons he watches the Hornets so much is because of his interest in Terry Rozier, who played for Stevens in Boston for the first four years of his career. For the Hornets, Rozier is averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per-game this season. He's seventh in the league in minutes played and 14th in three-pointers made.

The Hornets are 0-2 against the Celtics this season and Tuesday will be the final time that they play against each other in the regular season. Though it's possible they could face off in the playoffs, with the Celtics aiming for a top seed and the Hornets within striking distance of the eighth seed.

"They have a lot of good young talent. They play hard. They play the right way," Stevens said. "Now that (P.J.) Washington's back, it's just another versatile scorer to add to the mix, and they've given us fits, especially at the five. In these games, we've got to be really good handling the role, handling the rebounding, making sure we're better against (Bismack) Biyombo, (Cody) Zeller and then hopefully getting to the shooters as well as we can."

In their first two meetings against the Celtics, Biyombo and Zeller combined for 37 points and 15 rebounds.