It’s becoming a theme for the 2025-26 Boston Celtics.

For the third consecutive preseason contest, Boston has held a lead of 20+ over its opponent:

In Preseason Game 1, the Celtics held big leads throughout before a decisive 121-103 win in Memphis.

In Preseason Game 2, it was a 107-105 loss in Toronto after blowing a 27-point second half lead.

In Preseason Game 3, it was a wire-to-wire domination over last year’s No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, beating the Cavaliers 138-107 in their first preseason game at TD Garden this exhibition season.

I get it, it’s preseason.

But what Boston continues to show game in and game out during these preseason games is a personality completely emblematic of their head coach in Joe Mazzulla, with rotational players treating every possession like it’s game seven of the finals regardless of what the calendar reads at the moment.

Boston has played a mix of their “guys” through the first three games. And in fairness, their competition has not. But that doesn’t mean we should be discounting all the good tape Boston has been putting out there over the past few days.

Guys like Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard have all done it on basketball’s biggest stage. They’re bonafides in this league are well-established. Just because Mazzulla is throwing them out there, it doesn’t mean these guys need to be playing this hard in games that, quite honestly, don’t matter.

But it matters to them. That’s the culture Mazzulla has fostered. They have pride every time they take the court, and that’s been evident over the last three games.

I give these guys a ton of credit for utilizing the preseason to work through some lineup stuff as they continue developing a new rotation minus Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet. Most teams, regardless of their roster turnover, aren’t taking advantage of this time.

Mini prediction - I bet Boston comes out of the gate hotter than most people expect, and will be among the top teams in the Eastern Conference after the first month of the season. I think they’ll fade back into the middle of the pack as the season rolls along, but from the jump they’ll catch teams by surprise.

Here’s three takeaways from Sunday night’s beatdown of the Cavaliers in Boston:

1. Why not Minott???

Josh Minott (pronounced MEYE-NOT) continues to be a spark for this Boston team this preseason.

From Derrick White talking about the forward being a pest on defense during training camp to highlight plays during preseason action, Celtics Twitter is quickly rallying around the 6-foot-8 former Timberwolf.

And on Sunday night in Boston, he kept the hype train rolling with 16 points on 5 of 9 shooting, going 2 for 5 from three while grabbing 6 rebounds and a steal. He was 4 for 5 from the line, and had multiple dunks that had the building sounding like a regular season game against a fully loaded Cavs team.

With his size and athleticism, I see no reason why this guy can’t be a huge part of the rotation in 2025-26. He looks like a guy that’s going to be able to stretch the floor, he can make plays at the rim, and he appears to be a guy that can switch on almost every position on the floor (minus true centers, probably).

I know Minnesota has been good the last few years, but I’m amazed this guy has been buried on their bench at only 5.0 minutes a game over his first three seasons.

It appears team president Brad Stevens may have found another diamond in the ruff with Minott.

2. Another big night for Anfernee Simons

After looking great on Friday night in Toronto, Simons followed that up with 21 points on 6 of 12 shooting on Sunday night at TD Garden.

Simons was 6 of 9 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 3 for 3 from the charity stripe. He led all bench players with a +15 on the night.

Simons’ career 38.1% three-point percentage is discussed among Celtics fans like the team just bought Apple stock in 1980. He’s shot the three at over 40% on the season two different times early in his career, and Boston fans believe “Mazzulla Ball” will be the key to unlocking this part of his game on a more consistent basis heading into his eighth season in the NBA.

Through two preseason games, it looks like the fans do have something to be excited about.

Fascinated to see how this preseason success translates to regular season scoring for the 26-year-old former Trail Blazer.

3. An extremely early candidate for dunk of the year

I get it, it’s preseason.

And I understand that if you were watching this preseason blowout with less than a minute to go on Sunday night you were either: A. At the game, B. Covering the game, or C. Betting on the game.

But for those who saw this thing go down in the moment, you were treated to an absolute baptism at the hands of Wendell Moore Jr.

If you haven’t seen it (you probably haven’t), please watch:

Another former TImberwolf, Moore was a first round pick out of Duke in 2022. He’s played for Minnesota (2022-24), Detroit (2024-25) and Charlotte (2025), and has never been able to find solid footing at the professional level.

Do I think he’ll make the opening day roster in Boston? No.

But do I think this dunk was awesome? Absolutely.

Let’s hope Moore lands in Maine, and we get some awesome highlights coming out of Portland called by Brendan Glasheen this winter.

Boston concludes its preseason schedule on Wednesday night at TD Garden in a rematch with Toronto.

The Raptors will be going for their fourth preseason in a row, as they beat the Wizards 113-112 on Sunday night for yet another thrilling tight victory for the part of the calendar that counts for no one.

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.