Joe Mazzulla was thrilled to see his Boston Celtics side win without playing at their best after their victory over the New York Knicks.

The Celtics came out on top 114-98 on Monday, with Jayson Tatum scoring 35 points, 17 of which came in the final quarter.

Boston were far from at their best, particularly when it came to their shooting, with even Tatum off his game, missing seven of the first eight games.

Tatum put it together in the stretch, though, and Mazzulla was delighted to see Boston win without being on the top of their game.

"It's the best. I love games like this, because it’s going to reveal who we are, what we've been doing and where we need to get better," he said. 

"You're not playing as well as you can be, and you're only down one. You've got to be thankful for that, because it could be a lot worse.

"And I thought our guys just stuck with it, with the right mindset."

Tatum added: "I missed so many wide-open 3s. I made the toughest one of the night, and I missed all the easy ones. That kind of got me going. I'll take it.

"I've played enough games, had enough tough shooting nights.

"All really, really good scorers know it just takes one to change your momentum, change how you feel about yourself shooting the ball. And once you see one go in, you just feel a lot better about yourself."

Jaylen Brown chipped in with 22 points, Kristaps Porzingis had 21 and Jrue Holiday finished with 14 to surpass 15,000 career points.

The Celtics are 8-2 for the season and sit second in the Eastern Conference, behind the Philadelphia 76ers.