BOSTON – It often takes a few games for an NBA team to discover a consistent passing rhythm as players shake off their offseason rust and acclimate themselves to new teammates. The Boston Celtics, however, proved to be a well-oiled passing machine out of the gate Wednesday night when they opened their season with a 122-117 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Boston dished out 36 assists on 48 field goals, which marked the highest assist total by any NBA team on Opening Night since 2001.

“It was great,” Al Horford (six assists) said of the collective passing effort. “Guys were really moving the ball well and it’s kind of contagious when you start having some success like that. We’ll have an opportunity to wear teams down if we’re able to move the ball at that pace. So I was pretty impressed – 36 assists is pretty good.”

Isaiah Thomas accounted for one quarter of that assist total. As Boston’s lead playmaker, he was extremely effective driving to the lane and drawing in multiple defenders, which opened up his teammates for wide-open shooting opportunities.

“We were just making the right play,” said Thomas, who recorded a game-high 25 points and six rebounds to go along with his nine dimes. “Guys were playing inside-out. Coach always says to attack the paint and make the right play, whether that’s to score for yourself or get another teammate involved, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”

The fact that Boston was able to share the rock so successfully was particularly impressive considering the energetic defensive effort put on by the Nets. Brooklyn hounded Boston all night long and managed to force 19 turnovers, but the C’s got the better of the Nets on most occasions.

“They were blitzing a lot of screens, so they were going to be tight on us and we were going to have to draw to and move it to the next guy,” said C’s coach Brad Stevens. “Our guys [did] a good job of that in the preseason, and in the first 40 minutes I thought we really played with great presence and purpose.”

One guy in particular who played with great purpose was Horford, who looked right at home during his Celtics debut. The veteran big man stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, five rebounds and four blocks, but it was his assist tally – six in total – that stood out.

Horford had a number of impressive dishes – one in particular during the first quarter when he faked a 3 from the right wing, drove hard to the basket, and then kicked it out to Avery Bradley for a wide-open 3 from the left corner.

The big man assisted on four of Bradley’s seven buckets on the night, and the veteran guard said after the game that he’s already falling in love with Horford’s unselfish style of play.

“He made some great passes all night,” said Bradley. “It’s contagious and he knows that coming from Atlanta. They shared the ball very well and that was part of the reason why they were successful.

“We’re trying to bring that here. We want to share the ball because we have a lot of players that can have a great night on the offensive end. So we just have to understand that every single game and make sure that we’re playing team basketball, because that’s what’s going to win us games.”

Boston’s brand of team basketball is what led it to its first win of the season Wednesday night, and if the C’s keep it up, it should allow them to produce many more throughout the remainder of the season.