4 takeaways as Celtics blow out Hawks, Jayson Tatum starts off red hot

The Celtics continued their dominant behavior as they blew out the Hawks 123-93 on Monday in Atlanta. The C’s scored 75 points in the first half alone as the Hawks had few answers against the reigning champions. Boston improved to 7-1 with its third straight win, while Atlanta fell to 3-5 on the year.

The Celtics fell behind early in the second quarter, leading C’s coach Joe Mazzulla to call a timeout. Then the defending champions were ruthless. They went on a 37-12 run over the final 9:37 of the quarter to take a 75-52 lead into the break. by Jayson Tatum There were fingerprints all over that series as he scored 26 points in the first half.

The Hawks never made it a close game from then on, as the Celtics only had to put the finishing touches on their victory. Boston was also without Jaylen Brownwho sat out his second straight game due to a left hip flexor injury.

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Tatum finished with 28 points and nine assists as he seemingly did it all early. Payton Pritchard also continued his spirited play off the bench with 18 points. Jalen Johnson had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks. Trae Young scored just two points and six assists as it was an unforgettable night for the Hawks guard.

The Celtics return home for another game, this time against the Warriors on Wednesday at 7:30 PM at TD Garden. Here are four lessons from Boston’s win over Atlanta:

Catch fire: When Tatum is active, he is one of the most exciting players in the league. That was on display throughout the first half of Monday, as he made the tough shots look easy. Tatum shot 9-for-13 from the field, including 6-for-10 on 3-pointers, in the first two quarters alone. Although Tatum didn’t score as much in the second half, that’s partly because the Celtics had such a big lead.

Start backcourt: The Celtics fell short without Brown, but that also means a few extra shots need to be fired for this talented roster. The C’s starting backcourt, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, were in attendance before they too called it an early night. White finished with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists; Holiday had 16 points in just 24 minutes. Notably, White is still having a great start to the season, as the All-Star buzz will increase if he can keep it up.

An opportunity: With Brown out, the Celtics opted to go with a double-major look for their starting lineup. The difference this time was that Neemias Queta was making his first career NBA appearance, alongside Al Horford. Queta impressed during this road tripplaying plenty of crunch-time minutes when Mazzulla chose to reward that effort. Queta finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, including a team-high plus-31 in his 23 minutes.

Sprinting forward: The Celtics kept coming out of transition, but it got so bad that it started to become an oddity. At one point, the C’s had a 30-0 advantage in fast-break points compared to the Hawks, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back. Ultimately, the Hawks picked up some fast-break points. But that was a subplot from Monday’s match, in which the C’s scored much easier points, while that was not the case for the home team. The final result was a 35-4 Celtics lead on fast-break points.