The Celtics overcame a slow start on Thursday night to cruise to a 122-102 victory over the Wizards in Washington DC. The win improves Boston to 2-0 on the year with an average margin of victory of 21.5 points.

Jayson Tatum led the visitors with his second consecutive double-double (25 points, 11 rebounds), while Jaylen Brown added a game-high 27 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals in 30 minutes. Jordan Poole had a game-high 26 points for the Wizards in the setback.

Boston trailed by as many as eight points in the first quarter after Poole scored 17 points in the period. The team righted the ship from there, starting with a timely charge from Tatum and Derrick White (19 points). Boston finally broke the game open in the second half, mounting a 58–24 run to put aside a rebuilding Wizards squad that lacked offensive firepower outside of Poole. The sensational stretch allowed Joe Mazzulla to rest his starters for most of the fourth quarter, as no starter played more than 30 minutes.

The Celtics now hit the road again to wrap up their two-game road trip Saturday night in Detroit.

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

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Celtics defense bounces back after Jordan Poole’s opening drive: The former Warriors guard put on a show against the Celtics in the first quarter, scoring 17 points in the frame, including some red-hot shooting from three-point range. The Celtics were a step slow out of the gate defensively, including in transition, but they were able to quickly steady the ship once Poole left the game. Boston still led by one point after the first quarter despite the blowout and the team stepped up their defense significantly in the middle two quarters, holding Washington to just 41 points in the two frames while outscoring the Wizards by 24 points in the two periods. The Wizards’ putrid three-point shooting outside Poole led to Boston running away with the game as they shot just 1-of-25 from deep outside Poole.

Joe Mazzulla goes big off the bench: With Sam Hauser sidelined due to a back injury, Jordan Walsh was expected to be the logical replacement for his minutes on the wing. However, Mazzulla opted to throw a bit of a curveball against the Wizards size off the bench, opting to play three big players off the pine (Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman and Neemias Queta) instead of with the 20-year-old Walsh to come along. The move opened the door for Boston to play several double-major lineups and the strategy paid off for much of the game. Queta did well in his minutes against Jonas Valanciunas, holding his ground in the post and adding a few easy buckets at the rim. Mazzulla was also able to take some pressure off Al Horford and the Wizards’ size with this look. Walsh will eventually get some opportunities in the rotation this year if Boston comes up short, but the Celtics are happy with bigger lineups if the opposition allows it.

Payton Pritchard bounces back: The reserve had extra chances with Sam Hauser on Thursday evening and made optimal use of them. He shook off a miserable shooting opener (1-for-10 from the field) and hit a team-high five 3s off the bench in his 28 minutes. The reserve guard also hit a three-quarter heave on the court to end the third quarter, but it was waved away after he released it just after the buzzer. All things considered, it was just another night where Pritchard took over much of the scoring burden from the starters and did so efficiently in an up-tempo affair. His production in the second half gave the starters most of the fourth quarter off.

Neemias Queta emerges as a bright spot: The big man is on the 15-man roster this year, but started the year at the back of the middle depth chart. However, he argued for more minutes in this film after an energetic effort on both ends of the floor. Queta scored 12 points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes, including four team-high offensive rebounds. He held his own against the Wizards’ physical bigs in the post and looked extra bouncy with his hustle up and down the floor. Queta has always been a great weapon on offense, but the rest of his game is progressing well in his fourth NBA season. This improvement time should make it very easy for Al Horford (20 minutes) to keep his minutes under control despite the absence of Kristaps Porzingis.