After early scare, Celtics demolish young Wizards for second consecutive win

If the Celtics needed an ego check after their season-opening beatdown of the New York Knicks, they got one from an unlikely source.

The Wizards, owners of the NBA’s second-worst record last season, wobbled the defending champions Thursday night in Washington. Fueled by 17 first-quarter points from Jordan Poole, the underdog hosts kept pace for the opening 20 minutes, leading by as many as eight against a Boston squad that lacked its usual crispness.

Eventually, though, the massive talent disparity between the two clubs took over. The Celtics pulled away late in the second quarter and dominated the second half en route to a 122-102 win at Capital One Arena.

Jayson Tatum continued his strong start to the season with 25 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and one steal for Boston, despite shooting just 3 for 11 from 3-point range. Tatum nearly matched Poole with 14 points in the first quarter and just missed a first-half double-double, notching 20 points and nine rebounds before the break.

Jaylen Brown celebrated his 28th birthday by pouring in 27 points to go along with three assists and four steals. He attacked the basket with authority and hit 3 of 6 threes, including two in a 21-second span to open the fourth quarter.

Derrick White played the role of third scorer well for the second straight game (19 points). So far in this young season, the do-it-all guard has attempted 17 3s and made 10 of them (58.8%), building on the long-range prowess he showed in last year’s playoff run.

Speaking of 3s, Payton Pritchard shook off his rough shooting night in Tuesday’s opener by going 5 for 10 from deep, his 15 points carrying Boston’s bench production with Sam Hauser (lower back pain) sidelined. Pritchard also buried a heave from beyond halfcourt — his specialty, as seen in the NBA Finals — but released it just after the third-quarter buzzer.

It was an unsurprising result given where these two teams are: the Celtics gunning for their second straight championship while the Wizards look to give themselves the best odds of landing next year’s projected No. 1 overall pick, Maine-born Duke sensation Cooper Flagg.

Washington traded away most of its notable veterans last season and had two rookies in its starting lineup Thursday (Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington), plus another in their rotation (Kyshawn George).

The Celtics gave Sarr, this year’s second overall pick, a rude introduction to the NBA. Tatum hit three 3-pointers over the 7-foot Frenchman, including back-to-back makes during Boston’s second-quarter takeover, and Jrue Holiday baited him into fouls on consecutive possessions to trigger an 8-0 Celtics run.

The Wizards responded with a 12-2 spurt, capped by one of Poole’s six 3-pointers, to take a 51-49 lead just over halfway through the second quarter. But it was all Celtics from there on out. Boston scored 31 of the next 38 points, with Brown closing out the first half with a pair of slick contested layups.

Poole, who scored 26, was the lone bright spot for the Wizards. The rest of Washington’s roster went a combined 1 for 25 from 3-point range.

After Boston outscored Washington 34-19 in the third quarter, coach Joe Mazzulla emptied his bench in the fourth, giving first-round rookie Baylor Scheierman and two-way players JD Davison and Drew Peterson their first game action of the season.

Next up for the Celtics is a trip to Detroit for a similarly lopsided Saturday night matchup. The Pistons finished with the NBA’s worst record in each of the last two seasons, including a miserable 14-win campaign a year ago.