Banner Town Breakdown: Short-Handed Celtics Dominate Magic
Creator: Kim Klement | Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports | Copyright: Kim Klement
The Celtics took on the ice-cold Orlando Magic in this one in a game where superstar Jayson Tatum would be sidelined due to COVID-19. Despite this, the C’s were able to come away with a dominating 124-97 victory due to great ball movement and three-point shooting. The Magic are another team who are ravaged with injuries, but overall the C’s just looked like the better team in this one. Big-time performances from Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard highlighted a great team effort by Boston, with Brown tying his career-high in assists (8) as well.
Boston was without Tatum, Robert Williams III, and Carsen Edwards in this one. That’s on top of Kemba Walker and Romeo Langford being out, too. Luckily for everyone involved, Brown, Semi Ojeleye, Javonte Green, and Daniel Theis were cleared from the injury report earlier in the day, so the C’s had 12 available players instead of only eight. Regardless, it was set to be a tough game with their star player unavailable to play. Brad Stevens went with a starting lineup of Jeff Teague, Marcus Smart, Brown, Grant Williams, and Tristan Thompson.
With only one half of their superstar duo playing, the Celtics were going to have to look to keep the ball moving. Early on in the game, they were doing just this, with nearly everyone getting in on the scoring. Teague, Brown, and Smart all looked solid offensively to start the game, and at the same time, Orlando’s offense was completely stalled. The Magic were using a lot of shot clock yet still not getting much going in terms of offense.
Despite the seemingly slow start, the Magic picked things up pretty quickly after an early timeout from Steve Clifford. Rookie Cole Anthony was the epitome of hustle for Orlando, and despite having a few mishaps on the defensive end, was doing well scoring the ball for the Magic. On the other side of things, the Celtics continued to move the ball super well. It was a stalemate in terms of scoring for a long while at the end of the first, with the C’s maintaining the small lead they built earlier on.
One of the biggest challenges Boston was facing coming into the game was playing without one of Brown or Tatum on the floor. Stevens usually staggers their minutes like clockwork, but with no Tatum, there would have to be stints where it was all role players on the floor. Well, luckily for the C’s Pritchard stepped things up again. He looked great on the offensive end, making plays and digging the Celtics out of holes where no one else could. He made a couple of tough shots in the second quarter and did a great job of killing any momentum Orlando was trying to build.
By the time halftime rolled around Boston had built up a pretty solid lead. Their offense was running smoothly and they were containing Orlando on the other end. The Magic were running some solid plays, but the ball just wasn’t falling for them. Meanwhile Brown, Teague, Ojeleye, and Pritchard were all in a groove for the C’s, contributing to a 60-47 lead at halftime for the guys in green.
Boston opened up the second half hot. They were outpacing Orlando and had a firm grasp on the style of basketball that worked for them - emphasizing ball movement and hustling on defense. Meanwhile, the Magic struggled to find a consistent source of offense. The combination of Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, and Anthony was enough to keep them in the game, but the C’s were always able to stay one step ahead. Whenever it looked like the Magic were about to gain momentum there was something the C’s did to nip it in the bud.
By the time the fourth rolled around the Celtics were ready to put the nail in the coffin. They opened up the final quarter on fire from deep and the Magic basically rolled over and accepted defeat. Before anyone knew it the C’s were up by nearly 30 points and the game was effectively over. Boston’s great ball movement was brought up multiple times, but it really was a key reason they were able to come away with a massive victory in this one. Orlando was killing the C’s on the offensive glass, but their subpar offense was unable to capitalize, so it didn’t end up being too big of an issue.
No Tatum, no problem apparently. The short-handed Celtics came away with the 124-97 win in this one and are set to face the Knicks at home this Sunday at 1:00 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
Standout Performers:
Jaylen Brown - 21 pts, 2 reb, 8 ast
Payton Pritchard - 16 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast
Jeff Teague - 17 pts, 1 reb, 2 ast
Semi Ojeleye - 18 pts, 6 reb, 1 ast
Nikola Vucevic - 15 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast
Aaron Gordon - 17 pts, 2 reb, 3 ast
Cole Anthony - 15 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast
