Celtics cruise past Rockets as Jayson Tatum drops 30 / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports Credit Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Jayson Tatum scored 30 points and Jaylen Brown added 19 in his return from an injury as the Boston Celtics cruised past the Houston Rockets 108-90 on Monday night to earn their third straight win.

Player of the Game EFF 24 Jayson Tatum Points 30 Accuracy 10-22 Rebounds 6 Assists 3

Brown scored 12 of his points in the third quarter and finished 6 of 13 from the field in his first game since Nov. 4 at Miami. Brown was sidelined for the Celtics' last eight games due to a Grade 1 right hamstring strain.

Dennis Schroder finished with 18 points, Al Horford contributed 11 with 11 rebounds and Robert Williams III grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds for the Celtics, who have won eight of their 11 games since Nov. 3.

Williams had missed Boston's last three games because of a left knee injury.

Armoni Brooks had 17 points off the bench to lead Houston, whose losing streak swelled to a league-high 15 games.

Kenyon Martin Jr. scored 10 points while Jalen Green and Eric Gordon had nine points apiece for the Rockets. Houston leading scorer Christian Wood was limited to four points on 2-of-6 shooting with nine rebounds.

Houston's skid began with a 107-97 home loss to Boston in the teams' first meeting of the season on Oct. 24.

On Monday, Boston was up 52-47 at halftime and led by nine with just under 10 minutes to go in the third quarter. Horford's 3-pointer at 8:52 sparked a 17-0 run to put the Celtics up 76-50 with 5:14 to play before the fourth.

Boston led by as many as 29 points midway through the final quarter.

The Celtics led 22-21 after a back-and-forth opening quarter. Houston led 34-38 after Brooks' trey with 8:19 left in the second before Boston went on an 11-0 run to take control of the game for good.

Brown did not score in the first quarter and scored his first points on a pull-up jumper with 6:42 left before halftime.

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