Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, Jaylen Brown had 21, and the injury-depleted NBA-best Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-103 on Sunday night.
Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday were sidelined for Boston (13-4) because of injuries. Holiday was out for the second straight game because of a sprained right ankle, and Porzingis strained his left calf in a loss at Orlando on Friday afternoon. Both were dressed in street clothes and on the bench.
Derrick White added 15 points and 11 assists for the Celtics, Sam Hauser scored 12 points, and Al Horford had 15 rebounds with six points. Tatum grabbed nine rebounds and Brown seven.
Trae Young paced the Hawks with 33 points and seven assists. He came in averaging 35.7 points in his last three games and made at least five 3-pointers in each. He continued that run by going 6 for 16 on 3-point attempts.
De’Andre Hunter chipped in with 24 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 23 for Atlanta.
Boston never trailed and held a 14-point edge after a Hauser 3-pointer midway through the final quarter.
Brown, who scored all of his points in the opening half, hit the floor hard in the third quarter as he went after a loose ball, flipping out of control onto the back of Hunter, who tried to duck under him, before landing on his own back.
The Hawks trailed by 19 midway into the third quarter before Bogdanovic sparked a 13-0 run with two of his seven 3s.
Brown collected a long rebound off a miss by the Celtics, dribbled through traffic and jammed over Clint Capela to give the Celtics a 62-48 lead late in the second quarter, bringing a long, loud ovation.
Boston led 69-53 at halftime.
It was the first meeting of the teams since Boston eliminated the Hawks in six games in the opening round of the playoffs last spring.
Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla said that Porzingis will be evaluated “after a week or so.” He’s not expected to be out too long.
Young was whistled for a technical early in the first quarter but had 20 points in the first half.
