The Boston Celtics (46-23) didn’t need much time to make Wednesday night feel inevitable.

Even with the added emotion of a familiar face returning to TD Garden, Boston quickly turned the page to business - and once they did, the Golden State Warriors (33-36) simply didn’t have the firepower to keep up.

Behind another dominant showing from Jaylen Brown and a steadily improving night from Jayson Tatum, the Celtics rolled to a 120-99 win, their third straight victory and another reminder of just how dangerous this group looks when everything is clicking.

Golden State, playing without Stephen Curry and Al Horford, never fully found its footing.

Boston made sure of that early, and never let up.

Here are the takeaways:

Fresh off a 41-point performance against Phoenix (39-30), Brown wasted no time carrying that momentum into Wednesday night.

He poured in 19 points in the first quarter alone, nearly matching the Warriors’ entire output (23) by himself.

Brown attacked relentlessly inside the arc, slicing through Golden State’s defense and knocking down shots at every level.

By the time the opening quarter ended, the Celtics already had control, and Brown had made it clear this wasn’t going to be a close one.

For all the positives since returning to the lineup, Tatum’s three-point shooting had lagged behind.

That changed Wednesday.

Tatum found his rhythm early, knocking down four of his first six attempts from deep and finishing with a season-high 24 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

It was his third double-double in just six games back, and more importantly, a sign that his offensive game is rounding into form at the right time.

When Tatum is hitting from the outside, Boston’s offense reaches another level.

Payton Pritchard provided another spark off the bench with 19 points and a game-high 7 assists, continuing a strong stretch after some recent inconsistency.

Boston’s ability to get production from multiple spots, whether it’s Pritchard, Derrick White, or others, continues to separate them from teams relying heavily on top-end talent alone.

It’s not just who starts. It’s who finishes, and how many options they have getting there.

All eyes were briefly on Kristaps Porzingis in his return to TD Garden, and he received a warm ovation, especially during a first-quarter tribute video.

But once the game settled in, it was clear this night belonged to Boston.

Porzingis finished with 11 points on 4 of 13 shooting, and while he had his moments, he couldn’t tilt the game in Golden State’s favor.

Having been at the Garden for every major “reunion game” this season, I was underwhelmed by the reception for Porzingis. Between Luke Kornet, Jrue Holiday and the Warriors big man, it was surprisingly Kornet who got the loudest reception from the home crowd.

With the victory, the Celtics maintained their grip on the No. 2 seed in the East, keeping distance between themselves and a surging Knicks team (45-25).

The schedule is about to get tougher, but this stretch has shown exactly what Boston can be:

Explosive, deep, and capable of overwhelming opponents early.

When they play like this, there aren’t many teams built to keep up.

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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.