Jayson Tatum posted 28 points and nine assists for the visiting Boston Celtics, who breezed to a 123-93 win against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Derrick White added 21 while Payton Pritchard scored 18 points off the bench as the Celtics won their third straight. Jrue Holiday scored 16 and Neemias Queta tallied 10 points and seven rebounds and Sam Hauser also scored 10.
Injury-riddled Atlanta, which lost its fifth game in six tries, was led by Jalen Johnson’s 20 points and 11 rebounds. Star Trey Young, who came in averaging 27.0 points per game, was limited to a career-low two points on 1-for-10 shooting from the field, including 0-for-6 from 3-point land.
Onyeka Okongwu chipped in 18 points and 10 boards while Zaccharie Risacher scored 15 for Atlanta. David Roddy added 11 and Garrison Mathews scored 10 as the Hawks failed to score 100 points for the first time this season.
After a dominating first half that saw the Celtics connect on 15 3-pointers, the visitors added to their 22-point lead in the third quarter, jumping out to a 92-60 lead on Queta’s dunk at the 5:29 mark.
With the game never in doubt after halftime, Tatum assisted Hauser on a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left in the third, extending the lead to 103-73. After Risacher’s dunk cut Atlanta’s deficit to 112-81 with 7:42 left in the game, back-to-back Pritchard baskets followed by Jaden Springer’s dunk gave the Celtics their largest lead at 118-81 with 6:23 remaining.
In the first quarter, the Hawks took a brief lead after Dyson Daniels’ consecutive layups and Young’s mid-range jumper put Atlanta ahead 21-20 at the 5:14 mark. Boston answered with a 12-3 run, stamped with Tatum’s five straight points.
After leading 35-30 after the first quarter and 52-47 with 6:54 remaining in the first half, the Celtics took over with a 15-2 run, including seven in a row from Tatum, to take a 67-49 lead.
Boston went ahead by 22 at halftime after White knocked down consecutive 3-pointers in the final minute. Tatum led all first-half scorers with 26 points, while Johnson paced Atlanta with 16.
