“Winning ugly” is typically a phrase used when a team isn’t playing well statistically, but still manages to fight its way to a W. The Boston Celtics’ 122-102 win over the Washington Wizards was ugly.

It was also a piece of cake.

Normally you don’t see both things at the same time, but I guess it’s #DifferentHere.

Boston’s start to this game was the opposite of everything we saw from them on Opening Night. They lacked energy, the ball wasn’t moving and they found themselves in a battle with the Jordan Poole-led Wizards.

Despite all that, they still ended the opening frame with a one-point lead over the hosts. They can thank Jayson Tatum for that, as he got off to another good start in this game with 14 points in the first quarter.

After another period, the C’s shot just 46.7% from the field (not worst, but not great by their standards) and had turned the ball over six times, which was double their Tuesday total.

“I expected a little bit of a low just because I hit such a high,” Joe Mazzulla said of his team’s lackluster start. “It would take a while to get used to the emotion. It took a while to get used to the speed of the game.”

Oh yeah, and their lead was double digits at halftime.

Once play resumed, it continued to grow to 32 points.

Sure, there’s a layer to it where Washington is just an objectively bad NBA team. Boston still matched their intensity on the fly, making better decisions and playing to their strengths.

From top to bottom, the team did an excellent job hitting the offensive glass, where they finished the game with 19 second-chance points on 12 offensive rebounds.

Four of those came from Neemias Queta, who brought a lot of energy off the bench in Boston. He scored 12 points and seven boards in 14 minutes.

Mazzulla credited the big man after the win, reminding reporters that he was a key contributor to a number of different wins last season.

He wasn’t the only one either. CS guard Derrick White also shouted out Queta, saying it felt like he was grabbing “every offensive rebound.”

Listen, this isn’t the kind of victory you’ll ever tell your kids or grandkids about. But it was a good example of how Boston plays and works best as a team. They combined Queta’s hustle and great energy with better ball movement and more focused defense to change the entire course of this match.

Boston’s star duo of Tatum and Jaylen Brown (happy birthday) also had their respective moments, but there’s something truly satisfying about seeing a team come together and collectively decide to play the right way to take control.

It was also a different kind of special to see Wizards not named Jordan Poole shoot a combined 1-25 from beyond the arc.