“In the past two years, we were able to kind of figure out how we want to play based off of just the amount of established guys we had,” forward Sam Hauser said. “And even if we didn’t play our best one night, we were going to win a majority of our games. And our team looks different this year. It’s not always going to be like that.
“We’re going to have to be gritty, pick up fullcourt, trap, try to get steals, [force] turnovers, and play speedy on offense. So it’s just trying to figure out the new way of life, I guess, around here.”
Mazzulla said that in his team’s season-opening loss to the 76ers on Wednesday, it played the way it needed to play for about 12-16 minutes of the 48-minute game. He was at least encouraged to see an uptick Friday.
“I thought tonight it was closer to 24 [minutes],” he said. “So we just have to continue to get that number up as high as possible, and it’s just the effort and the details.”
It is safe to say that none of the encouraging 24 minutes came during the grisly second quarter in which Boston was outscored 42-14. The Celtics surrendered 11-0, 17-0, and 12-0 runs, an unfathomable trio.
That surge aside, Boston’s defense actually held up. The Knicks shot just 38.4 percent from the field and committed 20 turnovers. But New York’s 21 offensive rebounds, 21-7 edge in second-chance points, and 22-10 advantage in free throws made the difference.
This Celtics roster is not built with powerful defensive rebounders, so Mazzulla said his team will need to offset that shortcoming with physicality, by forcing turnovers, and by crashing for offensive rebounds of their own. It is a consistent storyline that is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
“Those rebounds,” Jaylen Brown said. “We’ve got to figure out how to come up with those. We’ve got to get a little bit more nasty on the glass.”
Brown had 23 points to lead Boston (0-2), but he committed seven turnovers. Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 31 points for New York (2-0).
In the second half the Celtics forced 16 turnovers, held New York to 36.1 percent shooting, and outscored the Knicks by 10.
Rookie Hugo González, who played 15 minutes in the half, was at the center of this revival. The 19-year-old pestered the Knicks ballhandlers, flew into passing lanes, and made simple tasks a chore for New York. His performance was a source of encouragement. Brown mentioned González in the first answer of his media session even though he had not been asked about him.
When González was asked how he became such a strong defender at such a young age, he shrugged off the question with a moment of self-awareness that belied his age.
“Well, I would say that Jalen Brunson dropped 30 points today, so it’s not the day to say that I’m a great defender, I would say honestly,” González said.
The Celtics held a 30-22 lead after one quarter before the Knicks walloped them. They needed just 93 seconds to wipe away that deficit, and it eventually turned into an 11-0 run that gave them the lead.
The Celtics briefly steadied themselves with consecutive 3-pointers by Hauser and Derrick White. But the Knicks were unbothered.
New York unfurled a 17-0 run that was ignited by its bench. The Knicks were quicker to the ball, quicker to the rim, and quicker just about everywhere else.
A driving 3-point play by Brunson capped the flurry and gave New York a 50-36 lead, its largest to that point. But the Knicks were not done. Leading 52-44, they closed the half with the 12-0 burst highlighted by a Karl-Anthony Towns steal and 3-point play on a layup.
When the dust settled, the Knicks had outscored the Celtics in the quarter, 42-14. They had seven offensive rebounds, a 12-0 edge in second-chance points, and went 12 for 12 from the foul line.
“I thought we did the things that we need to do [afterward],” Mazzulla said, “but it wasn’t enough, because we didn’t do them in the second quarter.”
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.
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