No problem for the red-hot Boston Celtics, who earned their eight win in their last 10 games on Thursday night against the Washington Wizards. 

Now, the Cs shouldn’t necessarily need Brown against the 3-17 Wizards, but a 146 offensive explosion was not expected with the No. 1 option sidelined. 

And don’t look now, but the Celtics now find themselves at the No. 5 seed in the East. 

Here are five takeaways from the 146-101 win over Washington… 

History making night 

Thursday’s win probably won’t go down in Celtics lore as the most memorable game, but it will go down in the franchise’s history books. 

Boston recorded its second best offensive performance in history with a 150.5 rating. It was a clinic from start to finish with the Celtics dishing 35 assists while also nailing 20 threes. They also had three scorers over 20 points in Derrick White (30), Jordan Walsh (22) and Payton Pritchard (20). 

The win also marked just the sixth time that Boston has won by 45 on the road.

Walsh’s stock continues to rise

It must have been moving in slow motion against Washington. 

There may not be a hotter player on the Celtics, or in the league, than Walsh. The forward had a career night on the offense end, scoring a career-best 22 points on perfect shooting from the floor (8-8). The forward also hasn’t missed a shot in his last nine quarters played, hitting 14 shots in a row. 

What has made Walsh’s rise within the Celtics even more impressive hasn’t even been his scoring, it’s mostly been for his defensive play. Walsh provides a boost of controlled energy that is much needed, and it showed again against the Wizards. The forward snagged seven boards, two steals and a block.

White dominates 

With Brown out, Boston was going to be looking to White to be the No. 1 option — and he delivered. The guard controlled the game with ease, recording a stat line of 30 points (12-21), seven rebounds and nine assists. 

He made some individual Celtics history himself too, becoming the first to record that stat line in under 30 minutes. 

It’s no secret White has struggled to get into a consistent offensive rhythm this season, and the Wizards aren’t a very good measuring stick, but it’s good to see White play like the elite offensive playmaker he has shown to be. 

Simons silently improving 

It won’t be shown in the stat sheet, but Anfernee Simons silently had himself a good performance on Thursday. Simons usually impacts the game most with the ball in his hands, scoring at a high clip, but the guard was finding ways to impact the game without the ball in the win. 

Simons finished with two rebounds, three assists, and two steals. The guard can score whenever he wants, but for him to get a consistent role in Joe Mazzulla’s system, he’s going to need to do the little things on a steady basis to get in the head coach’s good graces. 

The basketball gods did reward Simons in the fourth quarter as he connected on four-straight triples to end his night with 16 points. 

Simons has all the potential in the world to become a great player, integrating what he did against the Wizards with his elite offensive talent could get him there.  

Beat LA 

Next up for Boston is one it always has scheduled on the calendar — the Lakers. 

Los Angeles (16-5) has gotten off to a great start to the season, even with LeBron James missing a large part of the first two months of the year. It will be interesting to see if James takes the court in Boston after playing the first night of the Lakers back-to-back in Toronto tonight. 

The Lakers are coming into Boston riding high after a 123-120 buzzer-beating win over Toronto on Thursday. James finished with just eight points in the win, making it the first time in 1,297 games that he was not finished in double figures. 

Luka Doncic could also be missing from the Lakers lineup after traveling to Slovenia for the birth of his child. 

Expect Brown to return to the Celtics lineup after missing Thursday with an illness.