Boston’s Jaylen Brown drives against Atlanta’s AJ Griffin in the second half Wednesday night in Atlanta. John Bazemore/Associated Press
ATLANTA — Jaylen Brown scored 22 points to lead a balanced Boston attack and the East-leading Celtics stretched their winning streak to eight with a 126-101 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
The Celtics were missing injured guards Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon. It hardly mattered.
There were plenty of players to fill the void against the Hawks, who were coming off a big win at Milwaukee and eager to show they could challenge the best in the conference.
Not on this night.
Boston took control in the first quarter against the cold-shooting Hawks, whose occasional spurts were quickly snuffed out by the Celtics’ stifling defense.
Trae Young led the Hawks with 27 points, but was held to 10-of-23 shooting, including a mere 2 of 7 from beyond the arc.
The Celtics ran right through the home team by showing off their impressive depth.
Even without two key members of their rotation, they shot 54.5% from the field and knocked down 21 3-pointers.
Led by Brown, the Celtics put seven players in double figures. Jayson Tatum had 19, Grant Williams 18, Derrick White 16, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet 15 apiece, and Payton Pritchard 14.
White also had 10 assists, Kornet went 7 of 7 from the field, and Hauser did all his scoring on a 5-of-6 performance from 3-point range.
The Hawks got a glimpse of what this game would be like in the very first quarter. They connected on just 8 of 24 shots, missing all six of their attempts beyond the 3-point stripe, and quickly fell into a double-digit hole.
The Celtics led by as many as 16 points before the Hawks shaved into the deficit, trailing 62-53 at halftime. But Boston regained control in the third quarter and turned it into a total blowout down the stretch.
NOTES: Brogdon missed his fourth straight game with an ailing right hamstring, while Smart was ruled out with right ankle inflammation. … Boston showed off its balance in the first half as Williams, Brown, White, Hauser and Payton Pritchard led the way with nine points apiece. … Former Hawks C Al Horford led the Celtics with 11 rebounds.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.