Just over a minute into the Celtics’ game against the Suns on Friday night, Jaylen Brown slid past his defender with a backdoor cut before Jrue Holiday zipped a pass to him under the basket.

Just about any other time over the past nine seasons, Brown would have thrilled the TD Garden crowd and set the tone for the night with a loud dunk. But in this case he jumped and gently laid the ball in off the backboard before calmly jogging back downcourt.

At the moment, this is the new reality for Brown, who continues to deal with pain from a bone bruise in his right knee. His minutes are still limited, his burst has still not returned, and there are no guarantees that anything will get back to how they used to be anytime soon.

But Brown continues to show that he can be remarkably effective anyway. Against the Suns, he poured in a team-high 31 points on 10 of 16 shooting in just 28 minutes, 27 seconds, leading the Celtics to a 123-103 win.

He pointed out afterward that none of his baskets were dunks or fast-break attempts, an unusual occurrence for a player who generally thrives in the open court. He said before the game he watched footage of Celtics legend Paul Pierce, who was not an explosive athlete but found ways to effectively get to his spots throughout his Hall of Fame career.

Then Pierce happened to be watching Brown from a courtside seat alongside Red Sox legend David Ortiz, as Brown continued to work on his temporary reinvention.

“Just learning to make adjustments,” Brown said. “I probably relied on my athleticism a lot this season. But [now I’m] using more of my skill, playing a little bit slower, which can sometimes be a good thing. So it’s all about just figuring that out, and I’ve been using these games to kind of figure it out.”

Entering the game, the Celtics had not had their full team available since their Feb. 2 matchup against the Cavaliers. The players have emphasized that it will be important for their top rotation players to regain a rhythm together, and this game, despite Brown’s sore knee, provided that chance.

Six Celtics finished in double figures in scoring, with Jayson Tatum tallying 23 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. The Celtics made 51.7 percent of their shots.

Devin Booker scored 37 points to lead the Suns, who were without superstar forward Kevin Durant (ankle).

“It hasn’t happened a lot, but I think it’s going to happen a lot more coming up,” Tatum said. “So just enjoy it. It’s so much fun and we play with so much joy all the time, but especially when everybody’s healthy. You can see it from the starters to the guys off the bench to the reactions from the guys on the bench. We’re just out there having a lot of fun.”

Payton Pritchard’s 3-pointer that gave the Celtics a 44-26 lead with 8 minutes, 18 seconds left in the second quarter was the team’s 1,364th of the season, breaking the NBA record that was previously held by the 2022-23 Warriors. The Celtics finished the game with 1,370 — and counting.

And with five games remaining, Boston will have plenty of time and space to extend its mark. To make piles of 3-pointers, of course, a team must attempt piles of them. And the Celtics have certainly done that.

But much of this breezy victory transpired with dominance closer to the rim. Boston’s big men exploited mismatches against the smaller Phoenix players with more traditional post-ups, providing more evidence that this team can win in multiple ways.

The Celtics, who entered the night attempting 48.4 3-pointers per game, fired up 39 Friday and registered 52 points in the paint.

“We were able to fight for good looks vs. the coverage, and that’s the most important thing is continuing to understand how we’re being defended,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “How can we generate two-on-ones? How can we create the best shot possible? So it’s a credit to the guys for continuing to make the right reads and find their coverage solutions.”

The Celtics led by double digits for the game’s final 34 minutes.

Boston had a brief scare early in the fourth quarter when Kristaps Porzingis tumbled to the ground after he went up for a blocked shot and took an elbow to the face from Suns guard Cody Martin.

While Porzingis lay on the ground, Pritchard urgently waved to Boston’s bench indicating that Porzingis needed medical attention. It turned out that he had a gash on his nose that was gushing blood, a gruesome but fairly harmless sight.

As Porzingis walked to the bench, he smiled and flexed his muscles to his teammates before revving up the fans as he walked off the court. The injury required a few stitches, but Porzingis appeared to be fine after the game.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.