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 against the Atlanta Hawks on 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 6-of-7 3-pointers, to go with seven rebounds.
Rookie Jayson Tatum also struck for a career high with 27 points on 11-for-17 shooting while Jaylen Brown scored 19 points with four rebounds and three assists. Al Horford had 17 points with six rebounds and seven assists in just 29 minutes.
A 10-0 run had a 19-point Boston lead down to 103-93 with 6:26 remaining when Rozier answered the bell again on an offensive rebound for his sixth 3-pointer. A steal and slam from Tatum had the lead back to 15 with 5:57 left.
A pair of Dennis Schroder free throws made it 108-95 with 5:13 left when Tatum set his career-high with a baseline drive. Semi Ojeleye’s long jumper then made it 112-97 with 3:44 to play.
Tatum’s breakaway slam then erased any lingering doubt to the outcome 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 against 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 into the fourth.
And for the second straight game, Rozier was in the middle of most of it as he scored 14 in the quarter during the onslaught.
A pair of Brown 3-pointers put the Celtics up by three early in the quarter. After Horford tortured Atlanta’s Ersan Ilyasova on 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 before Rozier returned to the game with 7:55 left. A Schroder jumper made it a 9-0 run with 6:26 remaining.
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.