The Boston Celtics didn’t need a halftime pep talk.

All they needed for their 14th straight victory at home was a reminder that they could play better.

“It wasn’t brain surgery,” coach Brad Stevens said after the Celtics turned a threepoint halftime deficit into a 16-point lead and coasted to a 116-96 victory over the short-staffed Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

“We just walked in and said, ‘They’re beating us to every loose ball and getting every rebound,”’ Stevens said. “’This is the way they (can) beat you tonight. So, we either have to change that or we won’t win.”’

Isaiah Thomas scored 16 of his 22 points in the third quarter, and nine of them during a 14-1 run when the Celtics pulled away after Grizzlies guard Mario Chalmers left with what appeared to be a serious leg injury.

The Celtics have not lost in Boston in more than two months, a span that has seen them climb from ninth in the East into the conference’s No. 3 seed.

“In the third quarter, I tried to put it on myself … force the issue, get my guys going,” Thomas said. “Luckily we had another half to play, and we changed that around.”

Two nights after surprising East-leading Cleveland without four of their starters, the Grizzlies sustained a collapse that was exacerbated when Chalmers left with what the team called a right foot injury. Chalmers did not appear to sustain any contact before pulling up and then needing assistance to get off the court, unable to put any weight on his right leg.

Coach Dave Joerger said afterward he had no update on Chalmers, who left the locker room in a wheelchair with his right leg in a brace.

“When Mario went down, that was a tough deal for us,” Joerger said. “Our guys played their tails off. But that team right there … they got cooking and they were tough for us to catch.”

JaMychal Green had a career-high 13 rebounds and matched his personal best with 17 points for the Grizzlies.