Two days after celebrating Banner 18 with a commanding win over the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics left the ring ceremony behind them on Thursday night in Washington and began their search for Banner 19 in earnest against the Wizards. Although they struggled on the defensive field in the first half, they made the necessary adjustments in the second half to keep Washington at bay, securing a 122-102 victory and moving to 2-0 on the year.

Jayson Tatum continued his excellent start to the season, posting 25 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists – he might have been in contention for a triple-double had his services been needed in the fourth quarter. In support, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White combined for 46 points on 16 of 31 shooting, and Payton Pritchard made five three-pointers off the bench. For the Wizards, Jordan Poole had a strong first-half performance, scoring 26 points, while Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points off the bench.

While the Celtics opened their season with a massive 43-point first quarter performance against the Knicks, they didn’t find nearly as much distance early on against Washington. The offense continued to pick apart its opponents – they scored 33 points in the first frame, led by 14 first quarter points from Tatum – but the emerging young Wizards forced the Boston defense on its heels. Specifically, it was Poole who found himself on an early heating system; After an inconsistent first season in Washington, he opened his second with a blistering 17-point quarter, shooting 5 of 6 from three-point range. The Celtics entered the second quarter with a 33-32 lead.

Even when play resumed in the second quarter, the scoring dominated the evening. The Celtics did significant damage at the free throw line, firing 16 shots at the charity stripe in the first half, while Washington had six in the first half for 13. The defense, however, was puzzlingly inept. The Wizards were able to push the tempo and find success at the rim against the Celtics, including a particularly egregious sequence in which Kuzma took on Horford and Neemias Queta and scored a wide-open dunk. Washington scored a whopping 30 points in the first half.

However, led by Tatum’s continued brilliance, the Celtics found some momentum late in the first half. Tatum was coming off a near-flawless 37-point game against the Knicks and scored 20 points in the first half against the Wizards, including warming up rookie Sarr for a pair of pull-up three-point jumpers. Brown hit back-to-back shots late in the second quarter, and the Celtics enjoyed a 10-point halftime lead, 64-54.

An early 9-2 stretch by the Celtics early in the third quarter reinforced the turnaround, with the Celtics taking a lead with a 19-3 run that was more in line with what was expected of them. The Boston offense continued to create good plays and turn them into good scores, but more importantly, the defense stopped Washington’s scoring attack. The Wizards scored just six points in as many minutes early in the second half, and the Celtics built a 25-point lead, 98-73, early in the final quarter – a lead that could have been even larger if Pritchard had one would have scored a successful goal. The increase at the end of the quarter occurred only a few fractions of a second earlier.

If there was any potential for drama in the fourth quarter, it was quickly snuffed out by a red-hot Brown. Boston’s star wing celebrated his 28th birthday by hitting consecutive three-pointers when play resumed, extending the Celtics’ lead to 29 points and effectively putting the Wizards on ice. The Boston lead reached 30 points and the core rotation ended up on the bench not long after. Notably, rookie Baylor Scheierman checked in for the first time this season and scored the first points of his NBA career as the Celtics were running out the clock late in regulation. Scheierman converted a layup and drained two free throws to score four points in his first NBA appearance.

Next, the Celtics will look to extend their early winning streak in Detroit, where they take on the young Pistons at 7 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Boston.