Terry Rozier filled in for injured Kyrie Irving and had 17 points, 10 assists and five rebounds, and the Boston Celtics remained hot with an easy 126-94 victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.

The Celtics took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Hornets 35-16 to push a four-point halftime lead to 23. They went on to lead by as many as 35 points in the fourth quarter.

The Celtics (32-19) have won seven of their past eight games. They are also now 24-4 over the past two seasons when playing without Irving, who missed his third game in the past week with a strained left hip.

Jaylen Brown came off the bench to lead the Celtics with 24 points. The Celtics also got 20 points from Jayson Tatum, 15 from Marcus Morris, 14 from Al Horford, and 12 from Gordon Hayward. The Celtics shot 55.6 percent from the field.

Kemba Walker led the Hornets (24-26) with 21 points, although he didn't play in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand. It was Walker's best game since being named as a starter for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star Game.

The Hornets also got 16 points from Malik Monk, 13 points from Nicolas Batum and 10 from Marvin Williams.

The Hornets were without Tony Parker, who has an ankle injury. They have been without Cody Zeller (fractured hand) for the past 13 games, but Zeller worked out before the game and his return is expected soon.

The Celtics led 35-28 after one quarter and 63-59 at halftime, then pushed the lead to 98-75 after three quarters.

The Celtics and Hornets split two previous games this season. The Hornets won in Charlotte 117-112 on Nov. 19, then the Celtics won 119-103 in Boston on Dec. 23.

The Celtics closed out a five-game homestand. They play the Knicks at New York on Friday. The Hornets will return home to host Memphis on Friday.

--Field Level Media