Just 24 hours after being defeated by the Atlanta Hawks in their NBA Cup opener, the Boston Celtics walked the Brooklyn Nets. They talked the talk Tuesday night, saying they needed to be better and play harder, and did just that in Brooklyn at the end of a back-to-back, when they gave fans a 25-point apology in their pounding of the Nets.

“We didn’t feel good when we got on that plane last night… We wanted to bounce back,” Jayson Tatum told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after hanging 36 points on the Barclays hosts.

Tatum epitomized everything that was good about the bounce-back W. He scored a near triple-double (36p/10a/9r) and had his fingerprints all over the game.

Like all the games Boston played this past week, they started slow again, but JT had their backs. He scored 13 points in the first quarter to help the C’s keep pace with the Nets early.

His well-rounded effort rubbed off on his Celtics teammates, who looked much more focused.

“It starts with them (Tatum and Jaylen Brown) taking responsibility, but also taking responsibility for what needs to happen on the floor… They know how important their two-way basketball is to our success,” head coach Joe Mazzulla explained.

After turning the ball over 20 times and allowing the Hawks as many offensive rebounds as possible, they tightened things up and kept Wednesday’s combined total in Brooklyn to just 10.

Mazzulla had pointed out shot margins during Tuesday’s post-game presser and said you can’t win games if you make 25 fewer attempts than your opponent. His guys clearly listened and improved their play, especially Brown and Tatum.

“Yesterday, after the game, I said me and JT have to be better. We had 11 turnovers,” Brown said. “We only had one tonight.”

Brown didn’t have the most efficient scoring night en route to his 24 points, but he made his presence known by hitting the glass hard. His 12 boards (10 defensive) were a big part of the reason why the Nets couldn’t create second chances for themselves.

The willingness of Boston’s two stars to take responsibility and lead by example says a lot about their character, as well as that of the team.

Payton Pritchard, who scored a whopping 23 points at Barclays, agrees.

“Yesterday we were humiliated. We had no respect for our opponent,” he told reporters (h/t CLNS Media). “We came back today and it showed the character of our team.”

There have been plenty of seasons where we’ve all seen the Celtics lose in disappointing fashion, like they did in the Cup opener, and say they need to be better, only to come out and shoot themselves in the foot again.

Since Mazzulla has been in charge, more specifically since he’s had a full offseason to prepare for his responsibilities as head coach, the C’s have been consistent in learning their lessons.

He just wants his guys to commit to the process of getting better.

‘Nothing is certain. But also: just because you don’t play well doesn’t mean it’s broken. It’s just a process, day in and day out. You have to commit to it, you have to do it.”