Orlando Magic Defeat Boston Celtics 96-76

The Orlando Magic defeated the Boston Celtics 96-76. Franz Wagner led with 23 points, followed by Cole Anthony with 18. The Celtics were resting many players with the playoffs looming. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford were out. The Magic were without Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner. Orlando improved to 40-40. The Boston Celtics dropped to 59-21.

The Boston Celtics Keep It Close

The Boston Celtics had split the two matchups with the Magic this season. Their new lineup took a few minutes to get going but went on an early 8-0 run after trailing 7-2. Players like Drew Peterson and Baylor Scheierman, who rarely see the floor, were treated with extensive minutes. They came out hungry. But Orlando soon regrouped, and a four-point play from Anthony gave them the lead back. They built on their lead after a Gary Harris three and a stolen inbound pass into another Anthony three. At the end of the first quarter, the Magic led 27-21. Anthony had 7 points. Wendell Carter Jr. had 6.

Wagner got an and-one dunk to start the second quarter. The Orlando defense hounded the inexperienced Celtics’ guards, making life difficult after their first-quarter flurry. Another Anthony three extended their lead to double digits as they went on a 12-0 run. Sam Hauser got a few buckets to stop the bleeding, but it did not amount to much. Anthony, Wagner, and Paolo Banchero were lacing deep threes. It was obvious they had something to play for. Neemias Queta thew down a huge dunk, and Boston went on an 11-0 run with buckets from Scheierman and Payton Pritchard. This trimmed the deficit, and at halftime, the Boston Celtics trailed 49-41.

It was an interesting first half for both teams. The Magic were playing for play-in seeding and looked like they would run away with this game, leading by as many as 19. Wagner led with 14 points. Anthony had 10 off the bench. The Boston Celtics looked outmatched without their top six players, but a few runs kept it somewhat close. Pritchard had 11 points, Scheierman had 9, and Hauser had 7. Their late run closed the gap, but with Orlando’s defense and increased motivation, things could easily turn into a blowout in the second half.

Orlando Dominates the Second Half

In the third quarter, the Magic wasted no time going back up by double digits with a Banchero three. The Boston Celtics stayed in it with a Hauser three and a Kornet alley-oop, but Wagner and Banchero were too polished for them to defend. Orlando’s lead grew and a couple of three-pointers put them back up by 19. The Magic’s hot shooting paired with Boston’s cold shooting made things very mismatched. A Banchero dunk pushed the lead past 20 points and ended the game midway through the third quarter. Orlando was extremely hot from three and things got ugly fast. Through three quarters, the Magic held a commanding 80-61 lead.

With a large lead, Orlando needed to hold their ground in the fourth quarter to get the win. They did just that as Wagner and Anthony continued to nail tough shots. This helped them extend the lead past 20 again while the Boston Celtics shooting struggles remained. The Magic maintained their lead as the Celtics went on a four-minute scoring drought. Scheierman got a few buckets, but it didn’t make a difference. Orlando defeated the Boston Celtics 96-76.

Final Thoughts

The Magic improved to 40-40 with the win. Wagner led with 23 points. Anthony had 18 off the bench. Banchero had 15. The team shot 36% from three, but for most of the game, it was over 40%. The Boston Celtics fell to 59-21 with the loss. Pritchard and Scheierman each had 15 points. Kornet had 14. The team shot an ugly 17.5% from three. Boston is already locked into the two-seed, so these teams could meet up in the first round of the playoffs. With this win, Orlando won the season series 2-1.