BOSTON — Greg Monroe didn’t play Monday night for the first time in his seven games with the Boston Celtics, sitting out an easy victory against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Forty-eight hours later, Monroe was back in the rotation and took full advantage of it.
Monroe had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting with four rebounds in 31 minutes to help the Celtics easily beat the Charlotte Hornets 134-106 on Wednesday night at the TD Garden.
Seven of his points came in less than two minutes early in the second quarter to open a double-digit lead for the Celts.
“It definitely felt like I got a pretty good rhythm,” said Monroe, who was signed last month after his contract was bought out by the Phoenix Suns. “Coach (Brad Stevens) went to me and I just tried to be aggressive.
“He was telling me, just take your time, get your legs under you, so tonight I just got into a rhythm, got a little more comfortable.”
Monroe gave the Celtics an inside presence against the Hornets. He didn’t play against the Grizzlies because Daniel Theis was so effective early and Stevens stayed with him.
“(It) was fun,” said Monroe. “I know what these fans expect out of the team and this team has been playing at a high level. I just wanted to come in and try to enhance what they already have got going.
“It’s been tough for me getting a rhythm, especially with my situation this year, but it felt good to get some extended minutes, get into the flow of the game and just try to be as effective as possible.”
THURSDAY’s GAME
LAKERS 131, HEAT 113: Isaiah Thomas scored a season-high 29 points, Julius Randle added 25 and Los Angeles won at Miami to continue its surge.
Brandon Ingram added 19, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 18 and Kyle Kuzma finished with 16 for the Lakers, who won in Miami for the first time since Feb. 10, 2008. The Lakers shot 59 percent and were 16 of 29 from 3-point range.
It was the most points allowed by the Heat this season.
Thomas, whose previous season best was 24, connected on 11 of 20 shots and 6 of 11 3-point tries. Randle had 21 points in the first half for the Lakers, who are 16-7 since an 11-27 start – and at 27-34 have passed last season’s win total.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points for Miami. Goran Dragic had 19, Justise Winslow scored 17, and Josh Richardson and Bam Adebayo each added 15 for the Heat.
There were three big runs in the first half – two of them by the Lakers, who took control quickly, then ceded it briefly before grabbing it again.
A 12-0 spurt in the opening minutes put the Lakers up 20-7 before the game was 41/2 minutes old, but the Heat immediately answered with a 17-2 run to go up 24-22.
Miami ended the opening quarter leading 36-33. From there it was all Lakers.
Los Angeles scored 21 of the next 25 points to take a 54-40 lead.
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