After their big offseason acquisitions of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, the Celtics entered October’s season opener at Madison Square Garden boasting arguably the most talented top six in the league.

As they returned to New York on Saturday night, that claim has proven true. And they showed why again.

The Celtics couldn’t stop missing under the bright lights of the world’s famous arena. Once again, they raised their level to a place their opponents couldn’t dream of reaching. Behind an absurd shooting display, the Celtics ran away from the Knicks in the third quarter and coasted to the finish line of a 116-102 victory, their eighth straight.

Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, Porzingis added 22 and each of the Celtics’ top six scored in double figures. The C’s shot 57.5 percent from the field, their second-best mark of the season, in this victory – yet another one that proved how potent their talent is, that showed they’re virtually unbeatable when everything is clicking. The Celtics improved to 24-5 this season when they’re at full strength, another marker that makes them the easy favorite to win the championship when they’re healthy.

The Celtics, at 45-12, are now eight games atop the Eastern Conference with 25 games left in the regular season.

Jalen Brunson scored 34 points for the Knicks as he caused some problems for the Celtics, but not enough. The Knicks, who added some pieces at the trade deadline, have looked like a potential threat to the Celtics of late even while they deal with injuries to a number of key players. But without Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, they couldn’t keep up.

The Celtics shot 66.7 from the field in the first half but only found themselves up four at halftime. While the C’s dominated the paint with a 36-22 advantage inside, the Knicks were keeping up thanks to hot 3-point shooting and second-chance points. They tied the game early in the second half on Brunson’s three-point play. But eventually, the numbers tilted in the Celtics’ favor.

After going just 6-for-14 from 3-point land in the first half, the Celtics ripped the MSG nets from deep in the third quarter to pull away. They made four consecutive 3-pointers during one stretch to open a double-digit lead, and proceeded to pour it on. The Celtics went 9-for-14 from downtown in the third quarter as they took a commanding 20-point lead. By the end of the third, they were shooting an insane 68.4 percent from the field, and never had real reason to look back.