‪‪Boston Celtics‬, ‪Charlotte Hornets‬, ‪Brad Stevens‬, ‪Greg Monroe‬, ‪Daniel Theis‬, ‪Kyrie Irving‬‬ march 1, 2018 - Now

 ‪‪Boston Celtics‬, ‪Charlotte Hornets‬, ‪Brad Stevens‬, ‪Greg Monroe‬, ‪Daniel Theis‬, ‪Kyrie Irving‬‬ march 1, 2018 - Now

Kyrie Irving dominates, Greg Monroe helps as Boston Celtics roll Charlotte Hornets, 134-106

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics might not have needed their defense Wednesday night, but had a much easier time tossing aside the Charlotte Hornets once it arrived.

Greg Monroe had his best stretch with the Celtics, but the Hornets responded with a long string of made buckets. Everyone was scoring.

But at halftime, you can bet Boston head coach Brad Stevens implored his team to play a bit of defense. And the Celtics did. During the third quarter, they finally piled up some stops while cruising to a 134-106 home win. It was still their stampeding offense that carried them most of the way.

Greg Monroe has had a rough start to his Boston Celtics career. He opened up Wednesday about his struggles to acclimate to his third team of the season.

Greg Monroe started the season in green and now he’s finishing it in a different shade. He was a key rotation player for the Milwaukee Bucks, but they pounced at the chance to add Eric Bledsoe and shipped him to Phoenix.

He got a lucky break Wednesday when Daniel Theis was ruled out with a sore right hamstring and Stevens said he’ll be filling Theis role against the Charlotte Hornets. But he’s still coming along slowly and he doesn’t want to get in the way of the momentum the Celtics are building again.

“Like I said, it’s something we discussed (with the Celtics before signing with the team),” Monroe said pregame Wednesday. “These guys were rolling before I got here. I don’t expect anything to stop because of me. Nothing can really surprise me right now.”

Monroe is the only player on the team that is a complete scorer on the block, able to finish in a variety of ways that will play a role in certain matchups this year. The struggle for him has been having to adjust over and over.

“[I’m] just learning basically the third system in the same year,” Monroe said pregame Wednesday. “Obviously, I started the season in Milwaukee and then I went to Phoenix. It’s just adjusting again, especially at this time. This is crunch time in the year with playoff teams, so just trying to get caught up to speed and work myself in. That’s all.”

Monroe wants to play, but doesn’t enjoy getting it at the expense of Theis’ apparently minor injury.“I feel good. You obviously never want anyone to go down, but I’m always ready and willing to play. When my number is called, I just want to make sure I do whatever I can to help the team.”

Kyrie brilliant

Irving delivered one of his most breathtaking games this season, finishing with 34 points and five assists (13-for-18 shooting) despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter. Midway through the third, the point guard lost his dribble toward the end of the shot clock.

Irving collected 24 points, four rebounds and four assists ... before halftime. 

The first half involved a lot of offense for both teams. Kemba Walker (23 points, five assists, 9-for-13 shooting) scored 11 points over the first 4:27. Irving countered by tallying 16 points (plus three assists and three rebounds) before the end of the first quarter. Both point guards were dancing past defenders and hitting almost everything. Irving began his night by continuing his recent trend of launching long 3-pointers.

Monroe bounces back

After racking up a DNP-CD in Boston's previous game, Greg Monroe (14 points, 6-for-9 shooting) celebrated his return to the rotation by brutalizing Willy Hernangomez on the low block. As part of an all-bench lineup, Monroe drilled his first three shots, all on bruising post moves. The Celtics bench, which also starred Marcus Morris (15 points, eight rebounds) drilling a bunch of midrange jumpers, helped build a 14-point lead. 

But the Hornets came back. Dwight Howard (21 points, three rebounds) scored in the low post like he was still with the Orlando Magic. Walker was brilliant while scoring 21 first-half points on 8-for-8 shooting (4-for-4 behind the arc). Michael-Carter Wiliams (14 points) and Frank Kaminsky (16) both did some scoring off the bench. The Hornets hit eight straight field goals at one point. 

It was an enjoyable first half to watch, but I assume Stevens had other thoughts while watching his team give up 36 points in the paint before the break.

Outside of the early defensive lapses, the Celtics dominated. They were still shooting 66.7 percent from the field four minutes into the fourth quarter, which would have been their franchise's second-best mark since at least the 1963-64 season, per Basketball-Reference.

Because of some late misses, the Celtics finished at 62.1 percent from the field, including 60 percent from behind the arc (12 for 20). Blistering, no doubt.