The Boston Celtics are locked into the second seed within the Jap Convention, however on Wednesday evening in opposition to the Orlando Magic, they’d an opportunity to cement themselves on prime of the league differently. Taking the court docket in Orlando with an away file of 33-7, a win would tie the NBA file for street wins in a single season, set by the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. Sadly, although, a rotation consisting primarily of second- and third-string gamers weren’t in a position to maintain tempo with the Magic, and the Celtics suffered a 96-76 loss.
If the file was on the Celtics’ thoughts, it didn’t present of their lineup decisions. Taking part in the second evening of a back-to-back, coach Joe Mazzulla opted to take a seat a lot of the core rotation, with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Vacation and Al Horford hitting the pine with an assortment of listed accidents. It was going to be as much as Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and the Boston bench squad to convey residence in opposition to a principally wholesome Magic lineup.
The group of reserves struggled to generate constant offense in opposition to the Orlando protection. Pritchard helmed the offense and recorded a 15-point, 10-assist double-double, however shot simply 7-of-17 from the ground. Rookie Baylor Scheierman added 15 factors of his personal in a powerful outing, capturing 6-of-14, and Luke Kornet thrived within the paint with a 14-point outing — his fourth double-digit outing in his final 5 video games. Franz Wagner led the Magic with a powerful evening, scoring 23 factors on 9-of-17 capturing and grabbing eight rebounds, whereas guard Cole Anthony scored 18 off the bench.
Regardless of an energetic rotation that had extra of a scoring focus to it, the Celtics made their bread defensively within the first quarter. They did a superb job holding Orlando’s inconsistent offense in verify, at the same time as they took a while discovering their footing offensively themselves — they didn’t money in on their first three-pointer till there have been three minutes remaining within the first. After a gradual begin, the Celtics rattled off an 8-0 to present themselves a slender benefit that they held for a lot of the body. They faltered late within the quarter, although, and after a pricey foul by Scheierman handed Orlando’s Cole Anthony a four-point play, and the Magic discovered a scoring groove within the closing minute. The Celtics entered the second quarter trailing by six, 27-21.
Orlando’s momentum carried over into the second quarter, as they resumed play with a 10-2 run to place the Celtics behind by double-digits. That lead continued to construct and construct because the quarter wore on, with Wagner spearheading a punishing two-way effort from the Magic. The run stretched so far as 20-5 as Orlando continued to hit photographs and Boston’s subject aim share slipped beneath 40%. The sport started to teeter on catastrophe.
In an uncommon sequence of occasions, Anthony appeared to vomit on the court docket halfway by means of the second quarter, prompting a stoppage in play. Anthony didn’t depart the sport, nevertheless, remaining on the bench. Magic PR famous that he was obtainable to return to the sport, which he finally did within the recreation’s second half.
Following the stoppage, the Celtics asserted themselves. The Magic have been by no means to push the sport into true blowout territory, with their lead capping out at 19 factors, and their incapability to take action left the door open for a Boston comeback. Energized by a colossal dunk from Neemias Queta, the Celtics closed the half on a 14-2 run by which they held the Magic scoreless throughout the final three minutes of the half. They entered the halftime break proper again within the thick of the sport, trailing 49-41.
The pendulum as soon as once more swung in Orlando’s favor as play resumed within the second half. Led by continued glorious play from Wagner, the Magic constructed one other vital run, erasing Boston’s second quarter progress with a 13-2 run halfway by means of the third quarter that once more pushed their result in 19 factors. The Celtics’ incapability to attach from vary was a major issue of their stoop — halfway by means of the third, they’d linked on simply 5 of their 26 shot makes an attempt from three-point vary.
The 20-point threshold was not a barrier for the Magic this time round. Orlando’s lead continued to develop and the Magic seemingly couldn’t miss from behind the arc. Boston trailed by as many as 26 factors, and although they managed one other — extra modest — run late within the third, they confronted a steep uphill climb within the fourth quarter in the event that they wished to say a share of the street wins file, trailing the Magic 80-61 with 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
The late run gave the Celtics a combating likelihood, on the very least. A flaccid begin to the fourth quarter made it clear that an opportunity was essentially the most they have been going to get, although. The Magic re-established a 21-point benefit early within the quarter earlier than each groups fell into an intense dry spell, going almost 4 minutes of in-game time with out scoring a degree between the 2 of them. The entire sudden, there have been simply 4 minutes left to play, and Boston had run out of time to realistically mount a comeback.
Subsequent up, the Celtics will return residence for his or her penultimate recreation of the season, internet hosting the Charlotte Hornets this Friday at 7:30 PM EST on NBC Sports activities Boston.
