Jayson Tatum leads the top seed Boston Celtics to a win over the Atlanta Hawks

JAYSON TATUM SCORES 34, JAYLEN BROWN 21 IN BOSTON CELTICS’ 113-103 WIN OVER ATLANTA HAWKS

Sunday night, the injury-ravaged NBA-best Boston Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks 113-103 behind 34 points from Jason Tatum  and 21 from Jaylen Brown.

For Boston Celtics (13-4), injuries sidelined Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. In a Friday afternoon loss in Orlando, Holiday missed his second straight game due to a sprained right ankle, while Porzingis hurt his left calf. They were both sitting on the bench and wearing casual clothes.

For the most part of the season, we’ve been playing eight, according to Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. “You need to look for opportunities to give guys a chance at development and see what we can do.” That was the ideal chance to go out with the boys.

Dalano Banton, who began the game for the Boston Celtics at guard, scored eight points in about 19 minutes of action.

For the Celtics, Sam Hauser scored 12, Al Horford pulled down 15 rebounds and scored six points, while Derrick White contributed 15 points and 11 assists. Brown had seven rebounds, while Tatum had nine.

With 33 points and seven assists, Trae Young led the Hawks in scoring. He had scored at least five 3-pointers in each of his previous three games, averaging 35.7 points going into this one. On Sunday, he made 6 of 16 3-pointers, extending that run.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder stated, “I think a big part of his game is his 3-point shooting.” At the start of the season, he was rather busy. He gave birth to a child. He has demonstrated a strong commitment to leading the team to the point where we are attacking as a unit. He is aware of when he is being forthcoming and when he is not.

For Atlanta, De’Andre Hunter added 24 points, while Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 23.

Jalen Johnson, a forward for the Hawks who exited Saturday night’s game in Washington, got an MRI Sunday morning in Boston, which revealed he had a fractured left wrist. The Hawks said Johnson will undergo another evaluation in three to four weeks.

Halfway through the last quarter, Boston Celtics had a 14-point lead over Hauser’s 3-pointer and had never trailed.

After scoring every point in the first half, Brown crashed the floor in the third quarter, diving in for a lost ball and rolling out of control onto Hunter’s back, who attempted to dribble under him, only to land on his own back.

“I can feel the adrenaline wearing off now,” Brown remarked. “I’m hurting, but I’ll be fine.”

Halfway through the third quarter, the Hawks were behind by 19, but Bogdanovic’s two of his seven 3-pointers ignited a 13-0 surge.