Game Recap: Celtics 126, Hawks 101
Boston guard Marcus Smart was ruled out of Wednesday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks because of right ankle inflammation.
The East-leading Celtics also were missing guard Malcolm Brogdon, who sat out his fourth straight game with an ailing right hamstring.
Smart is averaging 11.4 points and 7.1 assists per game, having started all 14 contests before the Celtics visited Atlanta. Brogdon is averaging 13.7 points in 11 games off the bench.
The Celtics topped the Hawks, 126-101, behind their depth to stretch their win streak to eight games. Jaylen Brown scored 22 points as 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.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can do a lot of things to help us win games,” White said. “We trust every person on this roster. When they come in, they do good things for us. It’s a long season, there’s gonna be injuries, people out. We’re gonna need everybody.”
Even without two key members of their rotation, the Celtics shot 54.5% from the field and knocked down 21 3-pointers.
Since a loss to Golden State in last season’s NBA Finals, Boston’s backups have been eager to make up for a poor showing by the bench and a perceived lack of depth.
“It gets a little fire going,” Hauser said. “Everyone has kind of taken it personal a little bit.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
