Elise Amendola/AP Photo

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics avenged an earlier loss on Thursday, defeating the New York Knicks in a 128-100 route.

Here are 10 things we learned.

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1. The Celtics were supposed to be balanced, and they finally look like they are.

The entire point of the Boston Celtics' 2018-19 roster construction was supposed to be balance. The starters were supposed to build a nice lead. The stars were supposed to be staggered into the second unit. The lead was supposed to stretch. Inferior opponents were supposed to be overwhelmed.

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On Thursday, seven Celtics scored in double figures while both Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown (in his return from an injury) topped 20. Jayson Tatum dropped in three of his five attempts from behind the arc en route to 17 points. Along the way, the Celtics picked up a comfortable win over an inferior team.

The Celtics don't need heroics. They need performances like Thursday, where several stars pitch in and add up to a victory.

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2. Jaylen Brown came in attacking.

Jaylen Brown has struggled immensely from behind the arc this year, but in the interim as he waits for his shot to resurface, he has had a lot of success attacking the basket. His first step is very quick, and closing opponents can get burned for layups and dunks.

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Debuting as a member of the second unit against the Knicks, Brown was aggressive immediately -- slashing to the hoop over and over and tallying 12 first-half points. On his first two possessions, Brown went to the line three times, which has been an area of concern for Boston.

The Celtics couldn't have asked for a much better stretch from Brown (save for the lone missed three, which was a good shot). Aggressive Jaylen Brown is an important player.

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3. Gordon Hayward keeps moving the ball well.

Watch old Utah Jazz games, and Gordon Hayward's skill set as a facilitator is pretty clear -- he's excellent both in transition and out of the pick-and-roll. His ability to run an offense and score himself was one of the reasons his move to the bench made so much sense.

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There are little glimpses of Hayward's vision every game. In the first half on Thursday, he came around a mid pick-and-roll screen and elevated, drawing a Daniel Theis' defender before zipping a pass down low to Theis for the layup.

As Hayward gets more comfortable he will score more frequently, but his passing is nearly as valuable.

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4. There was randomly a bunch of confetti falling.

One funny side-plot: Watching arena workers focused on the ceiling, looking for the confetti that continued falling throughout the game.

There were two concerts earlier in the week, which presumably is where it originated. Fortunately, everyone was fine.

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They’re sending out professional confetti catchers and sweepers during each timeout. pic.twitter.com/OCwd5JQjK3 — Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) December 7, 2018

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5. Aron Baynes' ankle injury might be a thing.

We will spare you the screen caps here (you can find them if you want), but the injury looked pretty painful. Baynes -- who is really tough -- immediately dropped to the ground and scooted off the court before hobbling to the locker room.

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We keep saying this, but this could conceivably mean more minutes for Robert Williams. The Celtics could also struggle if Baynes can't return before Christmas, when they re-match against Joel Embiid and the 76ers.

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6. Kyrie Irving continues dishing.

Sometimes a scorer passes to prove he can get assists. Irving may be doing a little bit of that, but he keeps piling up solid assist numbers and a lot of the passes are great looks, created by his penetration and vision.

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7. Al Horford was quietly efficient.

Al Horford's struggles, particularly from behind the arc, were one of Boston's major issues during its bad stretch. The Celtics need Horford to space the floor and roll to the rim effectively.

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Horford did a little bit of everything, and he barely missed on Thursday. The Celtics all look more comfortable shooting from behind the arc, and if that trend continues, a lot of seemingly unrelated issues might start to clear up.

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8. Mitchell Robinson is kind of ridiculous.

Robinson jumps at everything and picks up fouls at an incredible rate, but his length and athleticism allow him to do completely unique things. Every game, an opponent underestimates Robinson's reach, and every game, he makes them pay.

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When Robinson gets less twitchy, he will be an incredibly effective NBA player. There were good reasons to pass on him on draft night, but a lot of teams might regret they did.

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9. The game itself was weirdly low energy.

The Celtics played really well and stretched out the lead in the fourth quarter. The Knicks were relatively competitive and got some big shots in the second half to keep things close.

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But after three wins previously and with a comfortable lead and a general sense that the ship has been righted (at least for the time being), the crowd mostly left early and never really erupted. For once, a Celtics game felt relatively normal.

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10. If this combo works, the Celtics are in great shape.

A second unit with Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward (as well as Terry Rozier) could be absolutely deadly.

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Hayward leads the break and finds Brown for a dunk! pic.twitter.com/zwe5CghP12 — Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 7, 2018