It was a well-rounded, high-energy effort by the Celtics as they defeated the Orlando Magic, 128-111, on the second night of a back-to-back. With the win, they improve to a league-best 19-5 record and stay undefeated at home (13-0). Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 30 points, Payton Pritchard added 21 off the bench, and Derrick White had 19 points and 8 assists.
The Celtics entered the game without their three centers; Al Horford rested on the second night of a back-to-back, as is customary, Kristaps Porzingis was out with left calf tightness for the fifth time this season, and Luke Kornet was a last-minute scratch last night after experiencing left adductor tightness.
So, Joe Mazzulla started with 6 ‘6 Lamar Stevens at center, and turned to Neemias Queta, Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk for real minutes — all guys who haven’t seen much action this season. Queta finished with 4 points, 3 boards, and 3 blocks, but also fouled out after 18 minutes of play. Brissett enjoyed his best offensive performance of the season, finishing with 11 points on 4-4 shooting. Stevens, who played a season-high 14 minutes, had 8 points and 3 boards.
The first quarter was all Jaylen Brown; he finished the period with 10 points and several highlight reel plays. Brown finished the game with 18 points on 8-15 shooting to go along with 4 assists and a game-high +/- of +20.
“We had a lot of guys out, but next guy up mentality,” Brown said after the game. “Plus, Orlando has been kicking our butt for the last couple of years, so we wanted to make sure we came out with the right energy, and I wanted to set the tone.”
Payton Pritchard, who finished the night with 21 points and 5 assists in 28 minutes. The team’s leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, Pritchard had 0 turnovers on the night.
Then, in the second quarter, Jayson Tatum got going with 11 points in the period; he finished with 30 points (11-22 FG), 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.
The Celtics led by 6 after the first quarter, and extended that lead to 13 points by half-time. By the end of the third quarter, they were up by 23, and never looked back the rest of the way.
The second half was a lot of Derrick White; 17 of his 19 points came in the second half, and he also left the Garden with a game-high 8 assists. Across the board, the name of the game was ball movement; the Celtics finished the night with 31 assists and were committed to making the extra pass all night long.
Sam Hauser, who has the second-best three-point percentage in the NBA (on a minimum 130 attempts), passed up several open looks to find an even more open teammate (Payton Pritchard in the corner, on numerous occasions). Hauser finished with 11 points (3 of 6 from three), along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
Prior to tonight, the Celtics had dropped four in a row to the Magic, including their worst loss of the season, a 17-point In-Season Tournament defeat in Orlando on November 24. With tonight’s win, they tie up the season series at one a piece, and will face off again against the Magic on Sunday at 3pm ET.
