Magic Clinch 7th Seed

Orlando, FL— After beating the Atlanta Hawks yesterday evening, the Magic took care of business on the second night of a back-to-back beating the Boston Celtics 96-76.

With tonight’s victory, the Magic clinched the Southeast Division title, securing their fourth win in a row, and locked up the seventh seed in the Play-In Tournament. 

Pre-Game Reports and Injuries

Like the Magic, the Celtics came into tonight’s matchup on the second night of a back-to-back and had a thrilling overtime victory on the road at Madison Square Garden beating the Knicks 119-117. Boston would come into tonight’s matchup resting a ton of players as they aim to go into the playoffs healthy as they’re locked into the number two seed in the East. 

The Celtics would be without Jaylen Brown (knee), Jrue Holiday (shoulder), Al Horford (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (return from reconditioning), Jayson Tatum (ankle), and Derrick White (ankle). Outside of season-ending injuries for the Magic (Jalen Suggs/Moe Wagner), there were no new injuries to report on. 

Jamahl Mosley told reporters before the game how the Celtics despite being undermanned are still a dangerous team. 

“They’re dangerous regardless. They’re champions for a reason,” Mosley said. “You talk about the guys that have played and played major minutes for them being champions — They understand how they have to play, then they know exactly how to play.”

First Half of Play

All things considered, the Magic got off to a slow start to begin this game. The Celtics jumped out to an 8-7 lead midway through the first quarter before the Magic turned it up a notch. Cole Anthony came off the bench and was the spark the team desperately needed, scoring seven points in the first quarter while knocking down two shots from behind the arch. 

Orlando continued to pull away in that second quarter of play before the Celtics went on a late run. Sloppy play and careless turnovers allowed the Celtics to go on an 11-0 run to close the half and the Magic went into the halftime locker room up 49-41.

Final Numbers and Thoughts

The Magic began to pull away in the second half and they never looked back as they outscored the Celtics 47-35. 

Orlando’s stars did their job and did what was needed to come out on top. Banchero finished with 15 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Wagner finished with 23 points, eight points, and two assists. Tonight’s contest ended an 11-game streak of Banchero and Wagner, each recording 20+ points. 

The depth of the Magic continued to show up in a big way for the team once again this evening. Cole Anthony led all bench scorers with 18 points, Goga Bitadze recorded six points and seven rebounds, and the bench combined for 47 total points.

“I thought he was great off the bench,” Mosley said of Anthony. “I thought he provided the extra amount of energy that was needed coming into off a back-to-back, being able to provide that spark. Not just the scoring, but just his pace, his energy.”

Orlando will now hit the road for the final two games of the regular season at Indiana and at Atlanta.