Terry Rozier is having himself a week. One game after putting up his first career triple-double in his first career start, Rozier's encore was a career-high 31 points in a 119-110 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Friday night at TD Garden.
BOSTON — Terry Rozier is having himself a week.
One game after putting up his first career triple-double in his first career start, Rozier’s encore was a career-high 31 points in a 119-110 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Friday night at TD Garden.
Playing without Kyrie Irving (bruised quad), Marcus Morris (bruised backside), Marcus Smart (cut hand), and Shane Larkin (sore knee), the Celtics needed to look to their youth, and once again Rozier delivered as he hit 11 of 17 shots, including six of seven 3-pointers, to go with seven rebounds in setting his career high.
Rookie Jayson Tatum also struck for a career high with 27 points on 11-for-17 shooting — breaking his old personal record of 22 — while Jaylen Brown scored 19 points with four points and three assists and Al Horford had 17 points with six rebounds and seven assists in just 29 minutes.
Boston won its straight game and second in a row playing without its five-time All-Star point guard.
A 10-0 run had a 19-point Boston lead down to 103-93 with 6:26 remaining when Rozier answered the bell again off an offensive rebound for his sixth 3-pointer of the net. A steal and slam from Tatum had the lead back to 15 with 5:57 on the clock.
A pair of Dennis Schroder free throws made it a 108-95 game with 5:13 left when Tatum set his new career high with a baseline drive. Semi Ojeleye’s long jumper then made it a 112-97 lead into an Atlanta timeout with 3:44 to play.
Tatum’s breakaway slam out of the timeout then erased any lingering doubt on the night as Tatum, Rozier, and Brown all received standing ovations upon leaving the floor.
For the second straight game, the Celtics imposed their will in the third quarter and broke open a close game. On Wednesday, they stretched a six-point lead at the break to 16 in an eventual 30-point win over the New York Knicks. On Friday night, they put up 41 in the third as they turned a two-point halftime deficit into a 94-75 lead heading to the fourth.
And for the second straight game, Rozier was in the middle of most of it as he scored 14 in the quarter — giving him 28 for the game — during the onslaught.
A pair of Brown 3-pointers put the Celtics up three early in the quarter. After Horford tortured Atlanta’s Ersan Ilyasova in a succession of possessions to push the lead to double digits, Rozier caught fire for his fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the night to clear his previous career high of 23 points in less than 30 minutes of action.
Rozier hit his fifth 3-pointer in six attempts for the 19-point lead heading to the fourth.
The Hawks were within 14 two minutes into the fourth on a Taurean Prince 3-pointer when Brown answered with a 3-pointer. Prince hit another, then it was Horford’s turn behind the arc to put the Celtics up 101-84 with 9:20 left in the fourth.
Brown’s pull-up made it a 19-point game, but the Hawks rattled off the next seven in a row before Rozier returned to the game with 7:55 on the clock. A Schroder jumper made it a 9-0 run into a timeout with 6:26 on the clock.
The Celtics shot 52.3 percent in the first half, but trailed by as many as nine in the half before hitting the break down 55-53.
Rozier picked up right where he left off Wednesday night in earning his first career triple-double in his first career start, as he hit his first six shots of the night for 14 points in the half, but the Celtics had myriad breakdowns with a makeshift rotation down four rotation players.
Down 32-23 late in the first quarter, Rozier scored eight straight Boston points to pull the Celtics within 35-31 early in the second. The Celtics were back down eight with 3:17 left in the half before they finished strong with four points from Tatum, and baskets from Aron Baynes and Brown, helping Boston end the half on an 8-2 run.
Scott Souza can be reached at ssouza@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Scott_Souza.