Everything you need to know about the Magic earning a 103-95 win over the Celtics in quickie form.
HEADLINES
Third quarter collapse: The Celtics played back-and-forth basketball with the Magic in the first half but the tide turned quickly in the third quarter. Boston’s offense fell into an offensive rut (23 percent shooting, eight turnovers) while the Magic remained elite on the offensive end (60 percent shooting, one turnover). The end result was a 32-12 rout in the frame, which produced a 19-point lead for the Magic entered the final quarter. The Celtics’ defense tightened up at that one point after allowing 90 points through three quarters, but couldn’t get closer than six points in the comeback.
Kyrie Irving stars, supporting cast struggles: Kyrie Irving scored 40 points in his return from a one-game absence due to a sore shoulder. He was electric for most the afternoon with 14-of-23 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. The outstanding offensive performance was wasted due to a no-show by much of the supporting cast. The bench unit scored a collective eight points on 4-of-19 shooting, while Jaylen Brown (17 points) was the only other Celtic who had an above-average scoring night. With 43 percent shooting from the field and just 14 free throw attempts, the Celtics weren’t able to manufacture enough offense in the second half.
Magic snap a eight-year streak: Orlando won their first game in Boston since January 2010 at the TD Garden, snapping a 14-game losing streak against the Celtics away from home. They entered Sunday’s contest as the worst team in the NBA and came away handing Boston their first three-game losing streak of the year.
TURNING POINT
The Magic dominated the third quarter by a 32-12 margin and the numbers indicate that they did most of their damage from inside the arc. Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier and Elfrid Payton wreaked havoc with their dribble penetration all quarter long, as Orlando scored 26 of their 32 points over the 12 minutes in the paint.
TWO UP
Irving: Irving’s game-high 40 points was the second time this year he has reached the 40-point mark (he scored 47 against Dallas on Nov. 20). He is now tied with Steph Curry and Russell Westbrook with seventh-most 30+ points in the game in the NBA this year (13).
Jaylen Brown: The shooting guard scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, the only starter outside of Irving that shot above 50 percent from the field. He has scored in double figures during four straight games now, averaging 16.5 points on 49.1 percent shooting during that stretch.
TWO DOWN
Terry Rozier: The reserve guard is in quite the slump during the Celtics three-game losing streak. He went 1-of-9 from the field against the Magic in 20 minutes and he’s shooting below 20 percent from the field (6-of-31) over the last three games. His accuracy from 3-point range is even worse during that stretch (1-of-16).
3-point shooting: The Celtics went 8-of-27 (29 percent) from 3-point range in the loss, the fourth time over the last six games they’ve made less than 30 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. They are shooting 36.4 percent from 3-point range on the season.
TOP PLAY
Jaylen Brown ?? pic.twitter.com/wIw0GzWP0z
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 21, 2018