The Boston Celtics woke up from another sluggish start in Orlando, this time turning it around and making multiple big plays down the stretch to hold off the Magic for a 111-107 victory.
It was a pretty good day in Florida for Boston sports teams, and just like the Patriots did in Tampa Bay, multiple Celtics came through down the stretch to earn their fifth victory of the year. Luka Garza came up huge in the fourth quarter, finishing with 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting and eight rebounds. Jordan Walsh even contributed in crunch-time, hitting a corner three to seal the game for Boston.
Anfernee Simons had a scorching hot first half, scoring 23 points in just eight minutes to erase an early double-digit hole for Boston. Simons made some Celtics history as well, becoming the first Celtic to score 25 points off the bench in the first half in the play-by-play era.
The Celtics started their first half against the Magic much like they did on Friday — lethargic. Orlando jumped out to a quick 21-9 first quarter lead, taking advantage of the sleepy Celtics with eight fast break points during its opening run.
Boston’s starting lineup didn’t provide much production in its first stint, especially on the boards. The Celtics starters didn’t have a single defensive rebound to their name in the first quarter.
Derrick White was the first one to wake up from his Sunday afternoon nap, knocking in 11 first quarter points on 4-for-9 shooting. A White triple at the end of the frame cut Orlando’s lead to 26-24 at the buzzer.
Now in a tight game, Simons carried over his explosive offensive performance in Friday’s second half to the first half on Sunday. The guard came off the bench and immediately provided the offensive spark Boston was missing.
Simons had 14 lightning fast points to open the second quarter, hitting three triples and getting sent to the charity stripe on another three-point attempt. Before you could blink the guard had 23 points in just eight minutes, sparking a 14-2 Celtics run.
Suddenly, Boston now held a double-digit lead in a game where it appeared they could be knocked out early. The Magic did fight back in the later stages of the second after Simons and the offense cooled off. Paulo Banchero sparked a 9-0 run with five points of his own after a quiet start for the All-Star.
Orlando’s second quarter push had the two teams all squared up at 54 points heading into the halftime break.
The third quarter was a bit of a slug fest in the Magic Kingdom, with both teams keeping level with each other. Payton Pritchard did finally start getting going, converting his first triple off of a White steal. Jaylen Brown got the Boston bench up and moving after a vicious one-handed slam to breathe some life into the quarter.
For Orlando, Banchero continued to have a pretty quiet night, shooting just nine times up to this point. It didn’t help matters that he found himself on the bench with four personal fouls.
Going into the fourth quarter down two, Boston found itself in a little bit of trouble with Neemias Queta on the bench with four quarters.
The center was a revelation in the fourth quarter, igniting a 13-0 Celtics run. Garza pounded the paint with three-straight makes, three rebounds and an assist to give Boston an 11-point lead.
Now on the verge of pushing the game out of reach, Boston let Banchero wake up. The forward rattled off six-straight points to cut the deficit back to five.
While Boston’s bench, who added in 50 much-needed points, it was the starters who took the reins down the stretch.
The Celtics, combating a suddenly on fire Banchero, nailed two massive three pointers in the final two minutes. Brown — who was 3-24 from three in November — connected on a deep three and White found the ball in the waning seconds of a possession to keep the lead.
Banchero did his best to keep the Magic alive, knocking in 14 fourth-quarter points and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line. Orlando as a whole dominated the charity stripe, connecting on 28-for-30 attempts.
With the seconds ticking away, Orlando cut its deficit to just two, but with 14 seconds left it forgot about an unlikely hero in Jordan Walsh. The 21-year-old was left wide open in the right corner, rising and nailing a three that gave the Celtics a five point lead and the win.
Boston will now travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday night for an 8:00 p.m. matchup with the 76ers.
