BOSTON — Jaylen Brown went down in the first quarter with a ankle sprain while driving to the lane. He was able to walk off on his own power but did not return. The C’s still beat the Hawks at home with a large 3rd quarter rally. 

With Brown out, that left Jayson Tatum to be the heavy scorer as he has been since this tear Boston has been on. He dropped 33 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the C’s. Grant Williams hit two big three balls late in the game to secure the win. Marcus Smart also stepped up with 16 points. 

That’s not to say Brown’s injury didn’t hurt the Celtic at first. The Atlanta Hawks were leading the game for majority of the first half. 51-65 with Atlanta ahead was the score at halftime. 

Trae Young finished with 31 points but only hitting two three’s. Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with 25 off the bench. As for the rest of the Atlanta unit—they struggled to put points up. 

Despite trailing, the C’s came out swinging in the opening of the third quarter going on a14-0 run. They outscored the Hawks big time in the third quarter 31-13. The bench scoring was key. Derrick White and Grant Williams both dropped 18 to help the C’s. 

Once again it was the defense and help off the bench that secured the win. There’s still no timetable on how long Brown might be out. But things are looking positive since he walked off the court on his own. 

Nonetheless—the loss two days ago to the Pacers hurt the C’s from climbing up the conference. They stay at the 6th spot tied for second place. They will face the red hot Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow night at home.