The Knicks took a 20-point halftime lead to beat the Boston Celtics on Friday night, 105-95.

Here are the takeaways...

-- In a rematch of the Eastern Conference semifinals when New York bounced the Celtics from the postseason, the Knicks went with a starting five of Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and Miles McBride, who got the start for the first time this season.

-- After going down 6-0 to start, New York got into a groove towards the middle of the first quarter after Towns drained back-to-back threes to get his team to within one. Landry Shamet came off the bench and also made his impact felt by grabbing a few impressive rebounds and sinking a deep three late in the quarter to keep the Knicks to within striking distance.

-- The Celtics got hot from deep at the end of the quarter, making three in the last 1:38 to go up 30-22 at the end of the first.

-- New York came out firing in the second quarter, highlighted by Anunoby, Jordan Clarkson and Bridges all hitting big three-pointers. The Knicks' bench continued their good night with Tyler Kolek giving them a lead with a two-pointer with 6:47 remaining in the half. It's a lead they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game.

-- Kolek's made shot was also the start of a 15-0 run by New York that ended on a Payton Pritchard technical free throw. The Knicks ultimately ended the quarter outscoring Boston, 42-14, and going into halftime with a 64-44 lead.

-- The Celtics did well to respond in the third, going on an 8-0 run out of the gates to cut into New York's lead. McBride and Brunson put an end to that quickly with consecutive threes to kill Boston's momentum. Brunson stayed hot with another three and Bridges added one to go back up 20. Unfortunately, the Knicks ended the quarter cold, going scoreless for the last 4:29, which allowed the Celtics to have a chance.

-- Without Jayson Tatum, Boston leaned on Jaylen Brown, who scored 23 points, eight in the fourth quarter. He also had a game-high seven turnovers. Despite getting outscored 30-23 in the final frame, New York held on for the win thanks to Brunson taking over as usual. Of his 31 points, 13 came in the fourth quarter.

-- Josh Hart made his debut after missing the season opener, coming off the bench and finishing with 14 rebounds, two points and three assists in 19 minutes.

Game MVP: Karl-Anthony Towns

KAT ended with a double-double, scoring 26 points and grabbing 13 boards. He also shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and 10-of-12 from the charity line.

Here are the takeaways...

Game MVP: Karl-Anthony Towns

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