Jayson Tatum caught fire with his re-worked jumper, and the Celtics torched the Knicks on opening night

Tatum caught fire from 3-point range and Boston put New York away early.

After a lackluster shooting performance during the previous postseason, Jayson Tatum put in plenty of work re-tooling his jumpshot in the offseason.

He looked completely comfortable bombarding the new-look Knicks with 3-pointers during the Celtics opening 132–109 win over New York at TD Garden Tuesday night.

Tatum set the tone, drilling six of his first nine 3 pointers, finishing 8-for-11 from deep and 14-for-18 overall. He scored a game-high 37 points and posted a double-double.

The parts of his game that had never waned during last year’s march to the title showed up fully intact as well. He fed his teammates consistently, notching 10 assists. The Celtics’ defense swarmed New York from the jump, grabbing a 19-point lead by halftime and putting the game out of reach early.

With Tatum focused, engaged, and hitting his shots, the rest of the team followed suit. They created open looks by swinging the ball around the court with efficiency.

They buried 10 first-quarter threes and never looked back. At one point, with two minutes to go in the third quarter, the team’s 3-point shooting percentage was higher than it’s overall field-goal percentage with both hovering just under 60 percent.

It was a dominant showing against the Knicks, who finished second in the Eastern Conference standings and invested heavily in their roster in hopes of chasing the Celtics.

New York re-signed OG Anunoby to a massive deal, traded five first-round picks for Mikal Bridges, and sent Julius Randle and Donte Divencenzo to Minnesota in exchange for center Karl-Anthony Towns.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was asked about the Knicks’ acquisitions before the game. He said the “enemy” had gotten stronger. He was so locked in that he remembered the exact date of a particular trade.

The Celtics showed no evidence of a lack of intensity on the night they raised their record-18th championship banner and received their championship rings.

They crushed one of the more formidable foes in their conference in front of a raucous home crowd and Celtic legends including Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Bob Cousy.

Tatum knew he had to do something about his jumper after shooting a career-low 28.3 percent during playoffs last year. He told reporters earlier this month that he had made a few mechanical adjustments, including keeping his shoulders forward to add power.

He began the new season on fire, and it led to the Celtics torching the Knicks.

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.