The Boston Celtics are locked into the second seed in the Eastern Conference, but on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic, they had a chance to cement themselves on top of the league in a different way. Taking the court in Orlando with an away record of 33-7, a win would tie the NBA record for road wins in a single season, set by the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately, though, a rotation consisting primarily of second- and third-string players weren’t able to keep pace with the Magic, and the Celtics suffered a 96-76 loss.
If the record was on the Celtics’ mind, it didn’t show in their lineup choices. Playing the second night of a back-to-back, coach Joe Mazzulla opted to sit most of the core rotation, with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford hitting the pine with an assortment of listed injuries. It was going to be up to Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and the Boston bench squad to bring home against a mostly healthy Magic lineup.
The group of reserves struggled to generate consistent offense against the Orlando defense. Pritchard helmed the offense and recorded a 15-point, 10-assist double-double, but shot just 7-of-17 from the floor. Rookie Baylor Scheierman added 15 points of his own in a strong outing, shooting 6-of-14, and Luke Kornet thrived in the paint with a 14-point outing — his fourth double-digit outing in his last five games. Franz Wagner led the Magic with a strong night, scoring 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds, while guard Cole Anthony scored 18 off the bench.
Despite an active rotation that had more of a scoring focus to it, the Celtics made their bread defensively in the first quarter. They did an excellent job holding Orlando’s inconsistent offense in check, even as they took some time finding their footing offensively themselves — they didn’t cash in on their first three-pointer until there were three minutes remaining in the first. After a slow start, the Celtics rattled off an 8-0 to give themselves a narrow advantage that they held for much of the frame. They faltered late in the quarter, though, and after a costly foul by Scheierman handed Orlando’s Cole Anthony a four-point play, and the Magic found a scoring groove in the closing minute. The Celtics entered the second quarter trailing by six, 27-21.
Orlando’s momentum carried over into the second quarter, as they resumed play with a 10-2 run to put the Celtics behind by double-digits. That lead continued to build and build as the quarter wore on, with Wagner spearheading a punishing two-way effort from the Magic. The run stretched as far as 20-5 as Orlando continued to hit shots and Boston’s field goal percentage slipped below 40%. The game began to teeter on disaster.
In an unusual sequence of events, Anthony appeared to vomit on the court midway through the second quarter, prompting a stoppage in play. Anthony did not depart the game, however, remaining on the bench. Magic PR noted that he was available to return to the game, which he eventually did in the game’s second half.
Following the stoppage, the Celtics asserted themselves. The Magic were never to push the game into true blowout territory, with their lead capping out at 19 points, and their inability to do so left the door open for a Boston comeback. Energized by a colossal dunk from Neemias Queta, the Celtics closed the half on a 14-2 run in which they held the Magic scoreless across the last three minutes of the half. They entered the halftime break right back in the thick of the game, trailing 49-41.
The pendulum once again swung in Orlando’s favor as play resumed in the second half. Led by continued excellent play from Wagner, the Magic built another significant run, erasing Boston’s second quarter progress with a 13-2 run midway through the third quarter that again pushed their lead to 19 points. The Celtics’ inability to connect from range was a significant factor in their slump — midway through the third, they had connected on just five of their 26 shot attempts from three-point range.
The 20-point threshold was not a barrier for the Magic this time around. Orlando’s lead continued to grow and the Magic seemingly couldn’t miss from behind the arc. Boston trailed by as many as 26 points, and though they managed another — more modest — run late in the third, they faced a steep uphill climb in the fourth quarter if they wanted to claim a share of the road wins record, trailing the Magic 80-61 with 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
The late run gave the Celtics a fighting chance, at the very least. A flaccid start to the fourth quarter made it clear that a chance was the most they were going to get, though. The Magic re-established a 21-point advantage early in the quarter before both teams fell into an intense dry spell, going nearly four minutes of in-game time without scoring a point between the two of them. All of the sudden, there were just four minutes left to play, and Boston had run out of time to realistically mount a comeback.
Next up, the Celtics will return home for their penultimate game of the season, hosting the Charlotte Hornets this Friday at 7:30 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
