Anfernee Simons always liked coming to TD Garden as a visitor. He looked pretty comfortable in his first home came as a member of the Boston Celtics on Sunday night.

The sharpshooting guard, who was acquired from Portland over the summer in the Jrue Holiday trade, came off the bench for Boston and led all scorers with 21 points in a 138-107 preseason victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"Every time I came to play here I enjoyed the environment. Obviously, the fans are top-level fans," Simons told reporters after the win. "It's always been an arena that I look forward to playing in. I always thought it was a good shooting gym for me. 

"Great shooting gym, for sure," he added.

Simons' shooting was on full display during his team-high 25 minutes of action. He knocked down six of his 12 shots, with all of his makes coming from downtown. He missed a pair of layups (one of which was rejected) and then put up a heave at the end of the third quarter, but Simons also added two assists, two rebounds, and a steal for Boston in the win over Cleveland.

Simons started in his Celtics preseason debut Friday night, and scored 18 points over his 26 minutes in Boston's loss to the Raptors in Toronto. Through two exhibition games, Simons is shooting 48 percent from the floor (12-for-25) and 50 percent from three (8-for-16) to provide the Boston offense with a nice big spark.

There is still a "getting to know you" period with Simons and the Celtics, but it looks like he'll be a nice fit in Joe Mazzulla's system and take on a chunk of the scoring Boston will lose with Jayson Tatum out. The Celtics have one more game left in the preseason -- Wednesday night against the Raptors at TD Garden -- to figure out the best fit for Simons to start the year.

Simons on coming off Boston bench, making an impact on defense

Mazzulla started Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, and Chris Boucher on Sunday, which could be his starting lineup for opening night against the Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 22. That would leave Simons to come off the bench, a role he hasn't played since the 2021-22 season with the Portland Trail Blazers. But if he can pour in points off the pine, Simons could find himself in the running for Sixth Man of the Year for Boston.

Simons admitted after the game that coming off the bench required some adjustments on his part. But the seven-year veteran is confident he'll make an impact in whatever role Mazzulla asks him to fill.

"I thought at first, I was kind of overthinking it," Simons admitted. "But once I got out there, I felt more comfortable. I think those early years coming off the bench really helped me trying to understand coming off the bench and the rhythm and just the preparation. It was good."

Simons is a walking bucket when he's on, so his offense has never really been a question throughout his career. But there are plenty of questions about his defense, which will be the difference between Simons being an offense-only option off the bench, or an important all-around contributor for the shorthanded Celtics.

"He's just got to be a complete player," Mazzulla said Sunday. "He has to understand the physicality that's needed on every single possession, on both ends of the floor. That's the only thing I care about. He's got to be physical, got to box out, has to be able to defend. Everything else will take care of itself."

Simons won't have to do too much defensively when he shares the floor with guys like Brown and White. But he said that seeing the rest of the team really up the ante on defense has him determined to factor in on that end of the floor as well.

"There is a standard that you want to obtain joining the team. Everyone else is going to bring it on that, so it forces you to put your best foot forward and fit in," he said.