Celtics at Hawks
Kyrie Irving has seemingly had some missteps in his effort to be the leader for the Boston Celtics in the locker room. He's having no issues leading the way on the floor and looks to stay hot when the Celtics visit the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
Irving, who has called out teammates on multiple occasions this season and recently admitted to apologizing to superstar LeBron James for how he behaved as a youngster in Cleveland, scored 38 points and dished out 11 assists in Friday's 122-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at home. "We've got to let Kyrie be Kyrie," fellow starting guard Marcus Smart -- who scored 20 points while making 6-of-8 3-pointers -- told reporters. The Hawks are 8-7 since a 6-23 start and are coming off perhaps their most impressive win of the season, a 142-126 victory over Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Rookie Trae Young finished with 24 points and 11 assists and Atlanta put together a pair of 45-point quarters in its best offensive effort in a regulation game in nine seasons.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Boston, FS Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (27-18): Smart's big night from the perimeter continued his breakout campaign on the offensive end, as he is now up to 37.4 percent from beyond the arc after hitting 29.3 percent of his 3-pointers through his first four seasons. "I thought he was going to have a really good shooting year last year," coach Brad Stevens told the media. "He put in a lot of time and work over the summer and then he had a couple of hand injuries that set him back for that season. But you could see that there was a foundation there that was gonna really pay off." Irving and Smart helped Boston survive a difficult night for forward Jayson Tatum, who went without a basket for the first time in his two-year career while shooting 0-for-6 from the floor.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (14-30): Tuesday's offensive outburst came despite a series of absences, as Kent Bazemore (ankle) remained sidelined and was joined by fellow guard Jeremy Lin (illness) and center Dewayne Dedmon (ankle), who has missed two games in a row but could return Saturday. Young is averaging 25 points over his last two games and hit four 3-pointers for the first time this month in the victory over the Thunder. "Tonight the shots just kept falling," he told reporters of the team's season-high 62.2 percent mark from the floor. "When you see the ball go in like we did tonight, I think it just keeps rolling."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Celtics have lost four straight and six of their last seven on the road.
2. Atlanta PF John Collins made 12-of-14 shots against Oklahoma City and is shooting 63.2 percent at home.
3. Boston C Al Horford is averaging 21 points over the last two games, during which he's shot 17-for-22.