It was a well-rounded, high-energy effort by the Celtics as they defeated the Orlando Magic, 128-111, on the second night of a back-to-back. With the win, they improve to a league-best 19-5 record and stay undefeated at home (13-0). Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 30 points, Payton Pritchard added 21 off the bench, and Derrick White had 19.
The Celtics entered the game without their three centers; Al Horford rested on the second night of a back-to-back, as is customary, Kristaps Porzingis was out with left calf tightness for the fifth time this season, and Luke Kornet was a last-minute scratch last night after experiencing left adductor tightness.
So, Joe Mazzulla started with 6 ‘6 Lamar Stevens at center, and turned to Neemias Queta, Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk for real minutes — all guys who haven’t seen much action this season. Queta finished with 4 points, 3 boards, and 3 blocks, but also fouled out after 18 minutes of play. Brissett enjoyed his best offensive performance of the season; he finished with 11 points on 4-4 shooting. Stevens, who played a season-high 14 minutes, had 8 points and 3 boards.
The first quarter was all Jaylen Brown; he finished the period with 10 points and several highlight reel plays. Brown finished the game with 18 points on 8-15 shooting to go along with 4 assists and a game-high +/- of +20.
Payton Pritchard, who finished the night with 21 points and 5 assists in 28 minutes. The team’s leader in assist: turnover ratio, Pritchard had 0 turnovers on the night.
Then, in the second quarter, Jayson Tatum got going with 11 points in the period; he finished with 30 points (11-22 FG), 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.
The Celtics led by 6 after the first quarter, and extended that lead to 13 points by half-time. By the end of the third quarter, they were up by 23, and never looked back the rest of the way.
The second half was a lot of Derrick White; he scored 19 points and had a game-high 8 assists. Across the board, the name of the game was ball movement; the Celtics finished the night with 31 assists and were making the extra pass all night long.
Sam Hauser, who has the second-best three-point percentage in the NBA (on a minimum 130 attempts), passed up several looks to make the extra pass. Still, he finished with 11 points, hitting 3 of 6 three-pointers, to go along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
Prior to tonight, the Celtics had dropped four in a row to the Orlando Magic, including their worst…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CelticsBlog – All Posts…