Sports

Celtics take care of business and blowout Hawks

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics came out smoking on Friday night and never looked back as they dominated the lowly Atlanta Hawks at TD Garden.

The Celtics shot 73% in the first qtr and led the Hawks 42-19 at the end of the first as Kyrie Irving led the way with 12 pts in the qtr. Irving finished with 24 pts, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

This game also saw the return of Gordon Hayward after missing the Celtics previous game because of an illness.  Hayward chipped in with 19 pts in 18 minutes.  Gordon shot 7-10 overall and hit all three of his three point attempts.

Most of the Celtics regulars had good shooting nights. Jayson Tatum had 22 pts on 8-14 shooting,  Marcus Morris had 20 points on 7-12 shooting but he was also 6-8 on three pointers.

None of the Celtics starters played in the 4th quarter.  This was a game where bench players Daniel Theis, Semi Ojeleye and rookie Robert Williams all played double digit minutes.

The Celtics look to win their 9th in a row on Saturday night as they travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons.  After that game, the Celtics have four straight home games ending with a visit from the Sixers on Xmas day at 5:30.