4 takeaways as Celtics crush Cavaliers as new starter shines again

The Celtics rode a dominant second quarter to cruise to their first home victory on Wednesday night, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 125-105 at TD Garden.

Both teams came out of the gate red-hot from the field in the first quarter, combining for 82 points with the Cavs

The hosts broke open a tight game in the second quarter with a 20-3 run, which led to Boston nearly doubling up Cleveland in the frame, 35-18. The Celtics clung tight to that double-digit point advantage for much of the second half as the Cavaliers got no closer than nine points before Kenny Atkinson pulled his starters with just under three minutes remaining in regulation.

Jaylen Brown led the hosts with 30 points, with 18 coming in the second quarter. Josh Minott (11 points, 14 rebounds), Payton Pritchard (10 points, 10 assists) and Neemias Queta (10 points, 13 rebounds) all chipped in with double-doubles in what was Minott’s second career start.

Evan Mobley finished with a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers in the setback.

Boston now hits the road to try to secure their third straight victory, facing the 76ers for the second time this season on Friday night in Philadelphia.

Here are four takeaways from the Celtics’ win on Wednesday night:

Jaylen Brown takes over in the second quarter: The Celtics star looked his best physically all year after suffering a hamstring strain two weeks ago and it showed amid a second quarter outburst. The All-Star scored 18 of Boston’s 35 points in the frame, going 6-of-7 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range including a buzzer beater before halftime. The offensive eruption helped Boston turn a tight game into a double-digit lead before intermission as Boston closed the period with a 20-3 run including eight points from Brown during that stretch.

Sam Hauser catches fire early: The sharpshooting wing has settled into a bench role now after being switched out of the starting five two games into the regular season. The adjustment has appeared to open up more shooting opportunities for the forward, and he did that yet again on Wednesday night, opening the game with four straight 3-point makes before finishing 5-of-6 from deep in just nine first half minutes. The team is doing a better job running more sets to get Hauser open and finding him off dribble penetration. He’s now shooting 45.2 percent on the season from 3-point range.

Celtics win the rebounding battle: Boston has come a long way from their rebounding debacles in Detroit and New York to begin the year. They took positive steps forward against an undersized Pelicans team on Monday night but were up to the task physically against a terrific Cavs front line of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. Boston kept both guys off the boards early in this one and more importantly, brought the fight to the offensive glass. The hosts held a dominant 16-3 edge on second chance points as Neemias Queta and Luka Garza combined for six offensive rebounds in the first half alone. Cleveland made inroads on the glass in the second half on the glass but the Celtics still won the battle for second chance points on the night (21-19). That’s a sustainable number for this team to win games moving forward.

Joe Mazzulla may have found his starting lineup moving forward: After cycling through three lineups in the first four games of the season, Boston improved to 2-0 on the year with Minott in the starting group. His defensive energy and length is a welcome addition for a starting unit that’s undersized on the whole, and his ability to crash the offensive glass hard from the wing is an added dimension. With Sam Hauser finding his rhythm shooting off the bench, this looks like a group that could have staying power as Mazzulla experiments with different combinations for this new-look roster.