Final: Celtics 116, Magic 100 - Tatum, Hayward carry C's to fifth straight win

The Celtics played without three of their top six players (Marcus Smart, Kemba Walker, Daniel Theis) but their firepower on the wings proved to be more than enough to carry them to their fifth straight victory. Jayson Tatum finished with a game-high 33 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists while Gordon Hayward chipped in with 21 of his 23 points in the second half along with 7, rebounds and 7 assists to carry the hosts to the double digit win. Jaylen Brown added 18 points before leaving the game with a foot injury in the final minute. Boston has now won eight of nine overall heading into the trade deadline on Thursday.

The other story of the night was the play of Romeo Langford, who had not played meaningful minutes in nearly a month but Brad Stevens turned to him as a starting wing in this one with his starting backcourt sidelined. Langford did not try to do much on the offensive end (2-of-2 from the field) but he continued to show some nice flashes with his defense, including a tough swat of Evan Fournier on a drive and taking a charge under the basket in the second half. Some of this promise makes me wonder why he hasn’t gotten more opportunities in the past month with so many injuries piling up but it would seem foolish to sell low on the 19-year-old at the trade deadline unless it’s for a big splash.

• Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis have all been declared out. Walker and Smart are progressing from their knee and thigh injuries well according to Brad Stevens and are day-to-day. Theis suffered a sprained ankle on Monday and could be out until the All-Star Break depending on the recovery.


• Enes Kanter will remain on a minutes limit as he plays his second straight game with a sore hip.


• Rob Williams is out until the All-Star Break still but he is working towards ramping up his recovery after another positive trip to the doctor on his hip. "The goal now is to -- we’ve gotten even more good news, we’re going to really start pushing him after the All-Star break. He’s going to start practicing with us after the All-Star break. Hopefully he’ll come back soon thereafter. Supposedly he’ll be able to do most of our live practices when we come back,” Stevens said.


• The Celtics will be going for their fifth straight win and eight of their last nine overall.