In his lone season as head coach of the Celtics, Ime Udoka guided Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to the next step of their careers as they led the C’s to the NBA Finals. In his return to Boston, Udoka made sure to take some credit for that growth.

“Little things that I might have imparted some wisdom as far as that and just their growth in general,” Udoka said before Saturday’s matchup. “It’s a natural progression as far as that, becoming the All-NBA guys they are. I think, for the most part, they’re going to be perennial year-to-year. Happy for them. Not surprised by their growth or success. …

“Just natural steps for them, especially with them being leaders now. … So as I tried to preach to them, I think they’ve taken those to heart and continue to get better and better.”

Tatum and Brown have continued to take massive steps to new heights in their pursuit of leading the Celtics to the championship they couldn’t capture with Udoka. They welcomed their old coach back to Boston by showing them how.

After getting blown out by the Bucks in a rare no-show on Thursday night, the Celtics responded the right way, as they got back to normal. Brown scored 32 points and Tatum had 27 before being ejected in the fourth quarter, as the Celtics overwhelmed Udoka’s Rockets in a comfortable 145-113 victory at TD Garden.

The Celtics, two nights after their 33-point loss to the Bucks in which Joe Mazzulla rested his starters in the second, looked fresh and rejuvenated as they took care of business against the tired Rockets, who were on the second night of a back-to-back after barely holding off the Pistons on Friday night. Kristaps Porzingis added 17 points and Payton Pritchard had 19 points off the bench as the C’s put on an offensive clinic by making 24 3-pointers. They improved to a franchise-best 19-0 at home.

Tatum led the way in the first half with one of his best halves of the season. Udoka sent double teams in the Celtics star’s direction throughout the first half, and while that may have bothered him two seasons ago when Udoka was the coach, it was yet another example of Tatum’s growth and maturity.

Tatum barely flinched as he continued to make the right read over and over again. He scored 22 points in the first half on 8-for-11 shooting as he found lanes to the basket or pulled up for 3-pointers. He finished 4-for-7 from deep, including several pull-up triples as his rediscovered shooting touch continued. And when the doubles came, he was just fine with making the right pass as Boston’s open shooters continued to knock them down.

Tatum had four assists in the first half, which included a perfect pass in the corner to Al Horford who drained a triple that gave the Celtics a cushion. Tatum did not commit a turnover until he was doubled on the final play of the first half when he threw a lazy pass, but the Celtics had built an 11-point lead.

Then, Brown took the Celtics home.

Boston has struggled in the third quarter of late, but Brown made sure that wasn’t the case on Saturday night.

The Celtics began the third period on a 7-0 run behind a pair of baskets from Brown, who continued to set the tone on both ends. Brown scored 14 points in the first six minutes of the third period en route to 21 in the quarter as the Celtics torched the Rockets with 43 points. They held a 15-point edge in the period and never looked back.

Tatum was ejected early in the fourth quarter after he was blocked on a dunk attempt by Cam Whitmore. Feeling he got fouled, Tatum continued to complain to the officials and was assessed two quick technical fouls to end his night early.

But it didn’t matter. The Celtics were in full control at that point and finished this win easily without him. Boston led by as many as 36 in the fourth.