Murphy’s first law states that “anything that can go wrong will go wrong”. This statement could not have been more true as the ugly got uglier for the Orlando Magic on Sunday night.
The Magic stuck around for the first half of the game, remaining in striking distance despite never taking a lead for the whole game. However, worse became worse in the second half when Orlando found themselves down 30, losing 116-83.
Boston’s Stellar Play
The Celtics played extremely good defense, holding the Magic to just 83 points, 35% shooting and 19% from beyond the arc. The Celtics stole the ball nine times and forced 17 Orlando turnovers.
The Celtics also played brilliant offense, scoring 116 points, 58 of which came in the paint. Boston doubled Orlando’s tally of eight offensive rebounds and they put up a 38 point fourth quarter; shutting down any chance of a Magic comeback late in the game.
Jaylen Brown and Dennis Schroder scored 26 and 22 points respectively, and Jayson Tatum had nine rebounds and seven assists; leading Boston to their fifth straight win and putting them only 4.5 games out of first in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics have now won five straight, which is their largest win streak of the season. Boston has also scored 110 points or more in three of their last four games.
Orlando Needs Some Magic
The Magic scored their least amount of points in a game since last year in November against these same Celtics. Rookie Jalen Suggs was the only bright spot, putting up 17 points, five assists and six rebounds.
The Magic have now lost 43 games and are on pace to lose over 60 games this season. However, recent play prior to this beating by the Celtics had given Magic fans hope, as they had won four of seven.
Speaking of hope, just look at the Suns; three years ago they were the second worst team in all of basketball, record-wise. Now, they are the best team in the NBA and chasing another chance at a championship. This should give Orlando fans some optimism after a season that has been nothing but awful.