Celtics Win 14th Straight Home Game, Beat Grizzlies 116-96

BOSTON -- His team down by three points and getting outrebounded and outhustled by the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies, Brad Stevens had a message for his players at halftime on Wednesday night.

"It wasn't brain surgery. Just walked in and said, 'they're beating us to every loose ball and getting every rebound. This is the way they beat you tonight so we either have to change that or we won't win,' " Stevens said after his Boston Celtics got it together and roared to their 14th straight home victory.

The Celtics, outrebounded 29-14 in the first half, erupted for 31 points, including 16 by Isaiah Thomas, in the third quarter and routed the Grizzlies 116-96.

"I thought we started at a different pace than we had shown in the first half," Stevens said. "Obviously, I think our depth wore on them. They're not very deep right now."

Playing against a team that was already missing four starters and then lost Mario Chalmers to an ankle injury in the third quarter, Stevens figured his guys to wear the visitors down. That's exactly what happened as Boston scored 64 points in the second half. They ran off a 31-12 third quarter and held the Grizzlies without a field goal for the final 5:46 of the quarter.

The home winning streak is Boston's longest since an 18-gamer in 1990-91. The Celtics (39-26) have won 17 of their last 22 games overall.

Thomas and Evan Turner outscored the Grizzlies 14-4 in the final 5:11 of the quarter as the Celtics went on a 21-4 run in the final 7:47.

The Grizzlies, who somehow beat the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Monday night without Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and others, saw Chalmers helped to the locker room after twisting his ankle following his own missed shot.

A local television commentator tweeted he saw Chalmers, who had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists, say, "I heard it pop."

Chalmers left TD Garden in a wheel chair, his right leg in a brace.

"Obviously, to see another fallen soldier go down due to injury it deflates you, takes a lot out of you," said Tony Allen, who had 12 points for the Grizzlies.

Thomas led all scorers with 22 points and added five assists, resting in the fourth quarter. Turner had 16 points, eight assists and four rebounds off the bench, and Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley scored 15 points apiece.

"We wanted to push the pace," said Thomas. "The first half we watched a little bit of film. The pace wasn't there ... (Stevens) didn't say too much. He was upset but that's what happens when he expects a lot of us."

Thomas, who has 111 points in the last four games, was guilty of his first turnover in four games in the first half -- his errant pass to Jared Sullinger turning into Thomas' first turnover in 106:23. He had one turnover in 28:31 on Wednesday, sitting out the fourth quarter.

Asked about the turnover, Stevens quipped, "Yeah, we're gonna run (in practice) tomorrow."

The Celtics went 15 of 32 from 3-point range, 10 of 17 in the second half.

The ageless Vince Carter turned back the clock with 16 of his 17 points in the second half and grabbed six rebounds for the Grizzlies (38-26). JaMychal Green also scored 17 points and matched his career high with 12 rebounds.

"I'm really proud of our guys," said Memphis coach David Joerger. "I thought we played extremely hard ... our team played their tails off but that team right there has a lot of shooting, a lot of playmaking; that's the name of the game in the NVA and they got cooking and they were tough for us to catch."

Memphis rookie Jarrell Martin, whose first season has been marred by a broken foot, scored 15 points in 10:31 in the first half.

He came in with eight points in 62 previous NBA minutes. Foul trouble limited him and he finished with 16 points and six rebounds.

NOTES: F Zach Randolph, who missed Monday night's Memphis win in Cleveland with a knee injury, was still out as the Grizzlies' injury list remained long. The team dressed nine players, one above the NBA minimum, before losing Mario Chalmers in the third quarter. Randolph had 25 points and 13 rebounds against the Celtics in the first meeting Jan. 10, a big Memphis home win. ... Celtics F Jared Sullinger, hospitalized because of a skin infection, was a game-time decision and played, scoring 12 points in 21:13. ... The Celtics were hoping F Kelly Olynyk would return, but he missed his 10th straight game with his shoulder injury. "He needs to feel good about his shoulder ... That's a big part of it," coach Brad Stevens said before the game.