The Celtics expected to have their entire roster available Monday night for just the second time this season.
Minutes before tipoff, plans changed.
Jayson Tatum, two nights removed from his sensational 43-point triple-double against Chicago, was added to Boston’s injury report with what the team called a non-COVID illness. That was at 6:58 p.m. ET, ahead of a 7 p.m. start in Orlando.
Tatum was pulled from the starting lineup, did not join his teammates on the bench and eventually was ruled out at halftime, forcing the Celtics to make do without their team leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
For 30 minutes, it looked like they wouldn’t need him. Boston led by 15 points at halftime against the injury-ravaged Magic, who have been without stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner (torn obliques) for weeks and lost sixth man Moritz Wagner to a torn ACL on Saturday.
The Tatum-less C’s couldn’t hold it, however. Orlando dominated the second half, building a double-digit advantage and then surviving a late Celtics rally to secure a 108-104 win at the Kia Center.
The loss dropped the Celtics to 22-7 heading into their Christmas Day matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden.
Jaylen Brown shined in his co-star’s absence, finishing with 35 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the Celtics. But Boston set season lows in points, (104), assists (13), 3-point attempts (32) and 3-point makes (eight) and nearly matched its season high in turnovers (19) against an uber-physical Orlando team that, despite its litany of ailments, boasts one of the NBA’s top-ranked defenses.
“They set the tone,” Brown told reporters in Orlando. “They were allowed to use their hands, and the team that sets the tone often gets the game called in their favor. It felt like we fouled them more than we liked. I was in foul trouble a little bit trying to use my physicality. But they were allowed to be physical tonight, and that had an effect on us in the second half.”
Brown, Jrue Holiday (16 points, eight rebounds, three steals) and Derrick White (17 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals) each turned the ball over five times. Kristaps Porzingis (17 points, two blocks) went 13-for-14 from the foul line but just 2-for-10 from the floor and 0-for-4 from three in the loss. Over Boston’s last three games, its non-Tatum players are shooting 22.4% from 3-point range.
With Tatum sidelined, Brown spearheaded the Celtics’ offense during a terrific first quarter. Boston’s co-headliner scored 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, added four rebounds and two steals, and was the driving force behind a surprisingly dominant interior game.
Orlando entered Monday allowing just 44.1 points in the paint per game, the second-best mark in the NBA behind Oklahoma City. That’s typically not the Celtics’ offensive focus — they came in ranked last in the league in paint points scored per game — but they piled up 24 in the first quarter alone, with Brown providing half of those. Boston led 32-21 after one.
The Celtics’ success attacking the rim helped them withstand another less-than-stellar showing from beyond the arc. The NBA’s most productive and prolific 3-point shooting team went 3-for-15 from deep in the first half Monday and made just one three in the second quarter (by Al Horford at the 5:08 mark).
Despite that lack of long-range firepower, Boston was able to keep Orlando at arm’s reach throughout the second and took a 58-43 lead into halftime. It added another 12 paint points, including made rapid-fire layups by Brown and Holiday sandwiched around a stolen inbounds pass. Brown, Holiday and White all reached double figures in the first half.
Stout defense helped, too. The Celtics held the shorthanded Magic to 33.3% shooting (20.0% from three) over the first two quarters while blocking five shots and notching seven steals.
Momentum then shifted drastically after halftime. Orlando scored the first seven points of the second half to trigger a quick Joe Mazzulla timeout, then reeled off runs of 9-1 and 10-1 later in the third quarter. The latter tied the game at 69-69.
An acrobatic reverse layup by Cole Anthony around Luke Kornet and Porzingis gave the Magic their first lead of the game with 2:10 remaining in the third. Anthony was instrumental in Orlando’s 22-point fourth-quarter comeback against Miami on Saturday night, scoring 27 second-half points in that game.
“(We) gave up a 36-point third quarter,” Mazzulla told reporters. “A lot of that was in transition. And then once it’s a close game, give a team like that life, they respond.”
The Celtics and Magic entered the fourth quarter tied at 79-79. Orlando quickly stretched its lead to seven points, but Boston climbed back to within one possession after Brown drew a foul on a dunk attempt and Holiday hit a three. The Celtics couldn’t close the gap, however, and 35 seconds later, the Magic were back up seven.
Boston then proceeded to score on four straight possessions — including three consecutive Brown field goals — and five of six. But the Magic matched each make with one of their own. A 3-pointer by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made it 100-93 with 5:12 remaining. Another by rookie Tristan Da Silva a minute later turned it into a 10-point game.
An already rough-and-tumble game then turned chippy when Porzingis clashed with Orlando’s Goga Bitadze and Jalen Suggs during a coach’s challenge. The altercation resulted in technical fouls for Porzingis and Suggs and an ejection for Bitadze, who grabbed Porzingis by the throat while the Boston big man was jawing with Suggs.
After that tussle, the Celtics surged. Brown hit a floater. White drilled a three, then won possession out of a jump ball after a Magic miss. Holiday hit a triple to trim Orlando’s lead to three, and Brown put back his own offensive rebound to make it 105-104.
But that’s where Boston’s comeback stalled. Horford couldn’t convert an open 3-pointer that would have put the Celtics ahead, and Da Silva proceeded to bury one with 9.2 seconds remaining to put Orlando up four. Brown’s attempted answer rang iron, and Mazzulla’s squad left the Sunshine State with its third loss in six games.
Off the rim
Sam Hauser returned to the lineup after missing two games with lower back spasms. He didn’t attempt a shot in 16 minutes off the bench, finishing with two rebounds, two assists and two steals. … Tough night for Payton Pritchard, who went 1-for-5 from three and was a team-worst minus-12 in his 21 minutes. … Twenty-nine games in, the Celtics still have yet to play a full game with their entire core rotation available.
Originally Published: December 23, 2024 at 9:51 PM EST
