Orlando, FL – After spending a night in Boston, the Magic returned to the Celtics’ home in search of revenge from Friday’s loss and they were unsuccessful after suffering a 114-97 loss.
The first quarter was the Paolo Banchero show, with the young star pouring in 19 of Orlando’s 31 points, including a wild layup over three Celtics and a handful of long-distance shots. Boston’s defense had the team in a chokehold for the first few minutes, but then Banchero decided to take matters into his own hands. He kept defenders guessing by feinting passing, gracefully getting to his spots, and barreling straight at the paint, which made it hard to contain him.
Defensively, he held his own against 7’3 Kristaps Porzingis on multiple possessions. The rest of the team felt the difference in height from Friday’s game and there were a few second-chance points where Orlando’s players were out of position or at a disadvantage over Boston’s huge frontcourt. Overall, once Orlando began to figure out the Celtics’ game plan they began to get comfortable on both ends of the court and their confidence was soaring.
The team outside of Banchero continued to struggle in the second, especially in the first few minutes without him. Banchero’s running mate Franz Wagner tried to shake off his bad shooting and take over the game with Paolo on the bench but continued his ice-cold streak of scoring. He was able to produce in other areas of the floor, with his passing and rebounding helping the Magic out, but they were in desperate need of some points, and nobody was able to produce enough offense and the C’s began to click, which led to a handful of Boston runs happening throughout the period.
When Banchero eventually got subbed back on, he continued right back where he left off and made a difference when he had the ball. Other Magic players tried to get going but it looked like no one outside of Paolo could figure out how to break down the defensive unit that Boston was throwing at Orlando. When the quarter ended Franz was 1-10 from the field and the rest of the team followed suit with just 36% shooting. Banchero kept the team in the game with 26 of the team’s 50 points and they were down 11 at the buzzer.
The third quarter was a lot more evened out after a restful halftime. Banchero had some help this quarter from Jalen Suggs the first six minutes of the quarter after he went on a good stretch of scoring. Boston slowed down just a bit after Jaylen Brown went off during the first half, which let Orlando get the game within single digits again. Their three-point shooting let them down, hitting just one shot on six attempts. Banchero topped off the quarter with a double-double, leading both teams in scoring.
Boston went back to playing how they were that first half in the fourth quarter, with some well-rounded play from everyone on the Celtics’ team. Orlando on the other hand wasn’t so fortunate. They got crushed on the glass and were outshot by the home team, making it a recipe for disaster, and blowing the hopes of a comeback right out the window. The Magic shot almost 10% under Boston’s shooting from the field and about 17% under their three-point shooting.
They grabbed 12 rebounds less, granted most of them were from the defensive side of the glass. The sole bright spot of this team today was Banchero with an efficient 36 points and 10 rebounds, leading the game in both categories, however, it wasn’t enough to overpower Boston’s stars at home.
The season series between these two teams is officially over and the Magic came out losing two straight on the road to the C’s. As they travel back home for the battle of Florida it is expected that Orlando will debut their new home arena name against the red-hot heat.
