Jaylen Brown returned to his hometown and scored 41 points to help the visiting Boston Celtics rout the Atlanta Hawks 132-106 on Saturday.
Boston has won two straight and 11 of its last 15. The Hawks have lost three in a row.
Brown, who had his No. 0 jersey from nearby Wheeler High School in Marietta retired on Friday night, scored 18 points in the first quarter to set the pace. He made 14 of 30 shots and 11 of 12 free throws, along with six rebounds. He did not play in the fourth quarter.
Sam Hauser added a season-high 30 points – 21 in the first half, shooting 7-for-8 on 3-pointers. He matched his career high with 10 3-pointers.
Anfernee Simons, who scored 39 points in the last game, came off the bench to score 14. Neemias Queta scored 14 with seven rebounds.
Atlanta was led by Onyeka Okongwu with 21 points and seven rebounds, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 18. Newly acquired Corey Kispert scored 16 points with seven rebounds. Jalen Johnson, the team’s leading scorer, was limited to 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting. His first basket of the game didn’t come until 1.3 seconds were left in the first half.
The Hawks played without three starters – Dyson Daniels (right ankle sprain), Zaccharie Risacher (left knee bone contusion) and Kristaps Porzingis (left Achilles tendinitis).
Boston played without starter Payton Pritchard (left ankle soreness) as well as reserves Josh Minott (left ankle sprain) and Chris Boucher (lower back spasms).
The Celtics took advantage of poor Atlanta shooting (34.8%) and raced to a 30-23 lead after one quarter. Boston continued to build its lead and used a 16-3 run to stretch its advantage to 20 points at 57-37.
The Celtics made 11 3-pointers in the second quarter – six of them by Hauser – and led 82-51 at the break. The 52 second-quarter points were second-most ever scored in an NBA second quarter. The 82 first-half points were the most scored in a half this season.
Boston stretched the lead to 43 on a 3-pointer by Simons and led 117-74 after three quarters.
–Field Level Media
