Celtics rout Hawks, cruise to 132-106 win

The Celtics were playing on rookie mode on Saturday night in Atlanta, showcasing one of the better road performances in franchise history, routing the Hawks for a 132-106 win.  

While the game was never truly in doubt for the Cs, the game truly turned into a blowout in the second as Boston hit 11 triples in the frame, setting an NBA record for most threes in a quarter. 

Jaylen Brown looked more than comfortable in his latest trip home to Atlanta, dropping 41 points in less than 30 minutes on 14-for-30 shooting. 

Sam Hauser also caught fire against the Hawks, connecting on 10 triples — which ties his career-high — for a season-high 30 points. Hauser fell one shy of Marcus Smart’s franchise record of 11 threes in a game. 

Boston was hot from the opening tip against Atlanta as Baylor Scheierman and Hauser got the offense rolling with wide-open triples from the corner. 

With an early 10-4 lead, it quickly became the Jaylen Brown show in his home city. Brown seemingly enjoyed being home in what was a special couple of days in Atlanta for the Celtics star as his high school number was retired on Friday. 

The forward looked more than comfortable as he opened with a dominant 18-point frame on 6-for-13 shooting. Brown also got to the line six times, well above the number he has been seeing as of late. To show just how good Brown was in the quarter, he became just the third player in the play-by-play era to attempt at least 13 shots and six free throws in a quarter. 

Despite the historic quarter by Brown, Boston still only led by seven, and that was mostly due to its poor performance on the glass. Atlanta was able to snatch four offensive boards, converting on a handful of opportunities to keep the game close. 

Still hanging on in the early stages of the second, the Hawks — who were without Dyson Daniels and Kristaps Porzingis — truly let go of the rope as Hauser, Scheierman and Anfernee Simons hit consecutive threes to push the lead to double digits. 

From there, the flood gates truly opened. 

Boston would go on to hit 11 threes in the quarter, with Hauser ending his half with seven triples in eight attempts. Simons also kept his hot streak going with three bombs of his own to head into the break with 11 points off the bench. 

Brown continued to dominate in the latter stages of the second, finishing with 29 points on 10-for-19 shooting. While the rest of the Celtics were doing most of their work from beyond the arc, Brown found most of his success inside, with nine of his field goals coming from inside 23 feet. 

On Atlanta’s side, it didn’t have close to enough firepower to match the Celtics in what turned out to be a three-point arms race. Nickeil Alexander-Walker (12 points) and Onyeka Okongwu (11 points) provided some production in the form of offense, but it wasn’t close to enough. 

When the third quarter began, the game was all but over — no one told the Celtics that. 

Boston followed up a 52 point second quarter avalanche with an equally impressive third quarter showing, especially defensively. The Celtics starters never let go of the rope, with Atlanta mustering 23 points when it needed a whole lot more to get back into the game. 

Brown also continued to get whatever he wanted, scoring 12 points in the third to finish his night in just three quarters with 41 points. 

With the Celtics holding a 43-point lead heading into the fourth, head coach Joe Mazzulla put his starters on ice as the bench rode the massive lead to Boston’s 26th win of the season. 

Next up for the Celtics is a nationally televised matchup with the No. 1 seeded Detroit Pistons on Monday. Tipoff set for 8:00 p.m.