Celtics find Magic answers without Tatum

Whether intentional or not, the hard foul that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope committed on Jayson Tatum in Game 1 of the Celtics-Magic series has made its mark. The play, deemed a flagrant, left the Celtics star nursing a sore wrist and sidelined him for Game 2 – his first-ever postseason absence after playing 114 consecutive playoff games in his eight-year NBA career.

If Orlando remembered anything, it was likely that Boston had played ten regular season games without Tatum this year, winning eight and losing two – both defeats, incidentally, coming at the hands of the Magic. But history didn’t repeat itself this time. The Celtics claimed a 109-100 victory at TD Garden, their second in as many games, putting them firmly in control of the series as it shifts to Florida.

Boston didn’t need to hit top gear to get there. In fact, across eight quarters of basketball so far, the reigning champions have clearly dominated only two – both third quarters. Much like in Game 1, after a sluggish first half where Orlando kept pace (leading by one in the opener, trailing by three tonight), the Celtics hit hard after halftime, building enough cushion to stay in front.

Jaylen Brown leads the charge in Tatum’s absence

The third-quarter burst wasn’t quite as explosive as Sunday’s, but it was enough to push the lead to 15. Orlando battled back, cutting the margin to five early in the fourth, but that was as close as they’d get. Paolo Banchero flirted with a triple-double (32 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists), but once again found himself shouldering too much. Franz Wagner chipped in 25 points, but his 1-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc mirrored a grim 24.1% team effort from three – a glaring issue that continues to sink Orlando’s chances.

For Boston, if Tatum sits, it’s Jaylen Brown’s time to shine – and he did just that. The reigning Finals MVP put on a masterclass, scoring 36 points on 63.2% shooting (71.4% from three), grabbing 19 rebounds, and dishing 5 assists. Simply the best player on the floor.

And this time, Brown had help. Derrick White added 17 points, surgical again in clutch moments, while Peyton Pritchard dropped 14 to remind everyone why he’s this year’s Sixth Man of the Year. Kristaps Porzingis contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds, drawing a roaring ovation after returning from the locker room with his forehead bandaged and dried blood trailing down the back of his head. The Latvian center had taken an elbow from Goga Bitadze – ruled a flagrant – but stayed in the game, sank his free throws, and returned minutes later to reassert himself.

“We’re not going to let anyone come at us like that,” Porzingis said postgame. “We expect teams to try things like this... but we’re going to hit back.” So far, at least on the scoreboard, the blows have landed squarely on Orlando.

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Boston Celtics

Stats

7 Jaylen Brown
42 Al Horford
8 Kristaps Porzingis
4 Jrue Holiday
9 Derrick White
12 Torrey Craig
20 JD Davison
30 Sam Hauser
40 Luke Kornet
11 Payton Pritchard
88 Neemias Queta
55 Baylor Scheierman
26 Xavier Tillman
27 Jordan Walsh

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
7 Jaylen Brown	41	36	10	0	10	5	3	1	0	7/8	7/12	5/7	0	1	0
42 Al Horford	32	9	10	4	6	1	1	0	1	0/1	3/6	1/4	0	3	0
8 Kristaps Porzingis	33	20	10	5	5	0	0	2	2	10/14	5/9	0/5	0	1	0
4 Jrue Holiday	36	11	4	1	3	6	2	0	1	3/3	4/6	0/3	0	4	0
9 Derrick White	38	17	6	2	4	5	2	1	0	2/2	3/4	3/10	0	5	0
12 Torrey Craig	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
20 JD Davison	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
30 Sam Hauser	13	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/2	0	2	0
40 Luke Kornet	11	2	2	1	1	0	1	1	0	2/2	0/1	0/0	0	0	0
11 Payton Pritchard	32	14	3	0	3	0	1	1	0	1/3	2/5	3/6	0	3	0
88 Neemias Queta	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
55 Baylor Scheierman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
26 Xavier Tillman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
27 Jordan Walsh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0

Orlando Magic

Stats

5 Paolo Banchero
22 Franz Wagner
34 Wendell Carter Jr.
3 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
10 Cory Joseph
50 Cole Anthony
35 Goga Bitadze
0 Anthony Black
23 Tristan da Silva
14 Gary Harris
2 Caleb Houstan
13 Jett Howard
1 Jonathan Isaac

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
5 Paolo Banchero	43	32	9	2	7	7	0	0	2	6/11	10/19	2/6	0	4	0
22 Franz Wagner	40	25	4	0	4	4	2	2	0	4/4	9/13	1/7	0	2	0
34 Wendell Carter Jr.	32	16	8	2	6	1	2	0	0	1/2	3/5	3/3	0	4	0
3 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	34	3	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	1/2	1/3	0/6	0	2	0
10 Cory Joseph	22	7	1	0	1	3	1	2	1	0/0	2/3	1/3	0	0	0
50 Cole Anthony	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0/0	0/1	0/0	0	2	0
35 Goga Bitadze	7	2	3	0	3	1	0	0	1	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	4	0
0 Anthony Black	22	11	4	2	2	0	1	0	0	3/5	4/6	0/2	0	2	0
23 Tristan da Silva	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
14 Gary Harris	13	4	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0/0	2/2	0/0	0	1	0
2 Caleb Houstan	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/2	0	2	0
13 Jett Howard	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
1 Jonathan Isaac	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0