Evan Fournier probably heard all the insults in the book after going scoreless in his Boston Celtics debut earlier this week. Brad Stevens knows this and knew the French shooter will look to bounce back sooner rather than later.

True enough, Fournier proves his doubters wrong in Boston's match-up against the Houston Rockets at TD Garden on Friday. The Celtics ran away with an easy 118-102 win, as their prized trade deadline recruit pitched in 23 points in 30 minutes.

He nailed seven 3-pointers in his third game in Celtic green, tied for second-most coming from a bench player in franchise history.

Early on, it seemed that Fournier is once again off to a lackluster night, scoring just three points in the first three quarters. He owned the final 12 minutes of the game, though, scoring 20 points in the period making eight of his 13 field goals, and going 7-of-11 from past the arc.

After the game, Celtics coach Brad Stevens lauded the veteran guard for calling his own number despite not having a lot of plays drawn for him for the majority of the contest.

Fournier figured in undoubtedly one of the worst debuts in league history when he went 0-for-10 from the field in 33 minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans. It didn't help that the 6-foot-7 swingman just scored six points in their ensuing game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Fournier, of course, was Boston's prized acquisition from the trade deadline. Those two poor performances had pundits doubting if the Celtics made the right call on giving up two second-round draft picks and Jeff Teague.

Fournier, meanwhile, admitted he will be sleeping soundly tonight after his fine outing.

The Celtics snapped their two-game skid and it's no coincidence that they did so after Fournier's impressive performance. He will surely be a vital piece for Brad Stevens moving forward, as they try to climb back up the East standings.