There’s been hype coming out of New York for months and yet still no substance after the Knicks were pelted for the third time this season by the Celtics. Considered the primary threat to Boston in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks are now a distant third as the Celtics outclassed them, 118-105, on Sunday at TD Garden, denigrating New York’s claim as a legitimate title contender before March even begins.

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The Celtics can be accused of playing to the level of lower competition this season, which has been an issue. But they have responded mightily when playing against the Knicks and Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers, improving their record to 5-1 against the two with Cleveland coming to TD Garden on Friday.

As for the Knicks, they were again undressed by the Celtics’ ball-movement, 3-point shooting and offensive crispness. Their three wins over New York are by a combined 63 points, with Sunday’s 13-point win being the closest, although they led by 27 in the third quarter.

Speaking of that large lead, the Celtics became erratic on offense and the Brunson-Towns pair began tallying buckets to eventually cut the Knicks’ deficit to 7 after three quarters, and then Towns decided to showboat with a 31-footer to begin the fourth in White’s face, lowering his hand to indicate White was too small to guard him.

White would counter with a triple and the Celtics would eventually go on a 10-0 run that essentially sealed the game. The Knicks were good only in spurts while the Celtics were consistent throughout the game, that’s the current difference between the teams.

And don’t think Brown and Tatum didn’t take notice when the Knicks added the two wing defenders, Anunoby and Bridges, while the Cavaliers traded for the Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter. Brown and Tatum responded to these moves differently when asked Sunday, but their motivation and awareness of what others are doing to prepare for them in a playoff series is the same.

“Absolutely,” was Brown’s one-word answer to whether he’s motivated by the Knicks’ moves. “I don’t think I need to explain why. But it does, but we’ll be ready. It’s the playoffs. We just want to be healthy. The Cavs and Knicks, they’re good teams. Anything can happen. We’ve got to focus on the details but I’m looking forward to it.”

Tatum, who led the Celtics with 25 points and was an assist shy of his second consecutive triple double, played another intelligent floor game, attacking the rim instead of settling for 3-pointers, making the right pass, and exceeding the output of counterparts Brunson and Towns.

“I mean it’s just the responsibility you have when you win a championship,” Tatum said. “When Golden State was making their run, teams were building their team to compete with them. When Denver won a championship, Minnesota built that team to kind of beat Denver. There’s a responsibility that comes with when you’re the champs and you’re the standard, teams try to build their teams to compete with that style of play.

“The most important challenge is we have is focus on us. It’s not guaranteed who we’re going to play in the playoffs but we’ll be up for the challenge whoever we play.”

Right now, Celtics-Knicks is a mismatch and New York has done nothing to garner any mention in a championship conversation. The Knicks are 0-7 against the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Western Conference-leading Thunder. And at this point the Knicks are fraudulent contenders, a team that beats up on the lower-level teams but succumbs to the elite clubs. They were coming off a 37-point loss to Cleveland and dropped two January decisions to the Thunder by a combined 35 points.

“We have the possibility of facing this team down the road,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said. “We’ve got to make sure we continue to get better. We’re not trying to close the gap with the Boston Celtics. They’re the champs for a reason. They’ve got all-NBA guys, All-Stars. They’ve got a heck of a team. We’re not trying to close the gap on them. We’re trying to make sure we get ourselves to where we need to be at the end of the year. And right now we’re not there.

“Tatum will probably be first-team All-NBA; Jaylen Brown probably second team. [Kristaps] Porzingis, White, Jrue, [Payton] Pritchard probably Sixth Man of Year. They’ve got everything. They’re a well-coached team, disciplined team. But we’ve got to step it up.”

The Celtics have no problem motivating themselves to play the Knicks because they’ve heard all the talk from New York over the past several months. The Knicks very loudly proclaimed themselves a contender after trading for Bridges. They loaded up for this specific matchup but have looked like Glass Joe in the three games.

Meanwhile, the Celtics just maintain their process, continue to improve and gain more consistency as the stretch run approaches and prepare for their contenders, knowing championships are won in June, not July or August.

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Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.