BSJ Game Report: Magic 113, Celtics 96 - Celtics fall apart, suffer worst loss of the season

Everything you need to know about the Celtics loss to the Magic, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

Jaylen Brown took over after a frantic back and forth to score 12 first-quarter points and help Boston build an 11-point lead. Mo Wagner and Cole Anthony fueled a big second-quarter run to tie the game, but Boston went 16-8 after that to regain an eight-point halftime lead. The Magic whipped off a 17-0 run to take the lead back and hold onto it heading into the fourth. It actually got worse for Boston after that. Missed layups, missed free throws … missed everything … cost them. Their 17-point loss was the biggest of the season.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- What happened at halftime? The Celtics had a really nice response to an Orlando 9-0 run in the second quarter to go up eight at the half. But there was no such answer to adversity in the third quarter. Their fight seemed to just wane in the second half. 

- Orlando is good: Before we get all up in arms about “this is a team Boston should have beaten,” the Magic move to 11-5 on the season with the win, a game behind Boston in the East and ahead of Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Miami. This was their sixth win in a row, and before beating Boston, they beat the Denver Nuggets. So, yes, Boston did a lot wrong to lose this game, but Orlando forces teams to do a lot wrong.

- They need Porzingis: I think one trend has started to emerge this season: The Celtics need Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis in the lineup to help snap things into place. As much as Jayson Tatum and Brown are the stars, White and Porzingis are the balance. 

- Mo Wagner’s revenge: In 10 career games against Boston before he joined the team, Wagner scored a combined 58 points. In four career games since being cut by the team, he has scored 94 (27 tonight) an average 23.5 points per game. His career average for the Magic is 10 points per game. 

- Tourney berth at risk: If you care about the In-Season tournament, this loss puts them at risk of being eliminated next week. Orlando moves to 3-1 in Group C. The win gave them the head-to-head tiebreaker against Boston. That means Boston needs 2-1 Brooklyn to win next week while the Celtics beat Chicago to force a three-way tie. Because the three-way tiebreaker is point differential, Boston needs to beat the Bulls by at least 23 to win the tiebreaker. 

TURNING POINT 

Orlando went on a 17-0 run in the third quarter to go from down 12 to up five. Boston went scoreless for almost five minutes and nearly seven minutes without a field goal. 

THINGS I LIKED

- There was nothing to like after halftime, except the Porzingis to Brown connection continuing to pay dividends.

Feels like the second half could have used a lot more of this. 

- Derrick White’s constant motion: 

He just doesn’t stop moving in this possession. And look at when he throws that lob. He starts making that pass when Luke Kornet is still three steps away. Everything is just so well-timed and precise. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- The lack of poise in the second half: This was a rough one. The Celtics just could not find any real answers in the second half. They lost it by 25 points, shot 27.8% (just 2-15 from 3), and they missed seven free throws. Meanwhile, Orlando shot 62%, 40% from 3, and won the second chance points battle 12-4. They made 16 more baskets than Boston in the second half. 

- Jaylen Brown’s second half: He was so good early, especially in the first, where he scored 12 points and had everything working. Then halftime rolled around and he went 1-14. That one was his first shot of the half (the one from Porzingis), then he missed 13 in a row, including a stretch where he missed a good look at a layup and airballed two in a row.

- Defensive mistakes: I wrote before the game that “they're going to have to balance the help on Paulo Banchero and Franz Wagner without over-helping and allowing role players to get going.” Well, they couldn't help on either of those guys nor could they stop Mo Wagner from getting going. Losing Porzingis really hurt Boston’s ability to get stops. Not having Jrue Holiday hurt them too. 

- The hanging on the rim tech: 

What are we doing here? What is going on with the NBA right now? This is a taunt somehow? Isn’t this a league full of grown-ups? This is just dumb. 

HIGHLIGHT

That's really the only good one left. 

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Here we go with the timeout thing again: Boston gave up a 17-0 run, and the world is falling apart because Joe Mazzulla didn’t call a timeout during it. 

There was a timeout called. After it 12-0, the mandatory TV timeout was called, but it was charged to Orlando, so I guess that negates the momentum-killing, run-stopping magic of calling a timeout because they added five more after that one. 

I know why Mazzulla didn't call a timeout. The run started at the 9:23 mark. By the time it became a “run” (we’ll say the 8-0 portion of it counts at the 8:28 mark … or maybe 11-0 with 7:51 to go), Mazzulla was hoping the team could hit some baskets to get to the mandatory TV timeout once they got past 7:00.  

They should have, actually. Brown missed a layup. White turned it over and Tatum gave up a transition take foul. They had chances and didn’t execute. 

They finally got to the TV timeout at 6:44 and the game tied at 62. 

So people will say “but John, you call the timeout before that stops momentum!” Okay, sure. There's no evidence at all to prove that it works. Like, none. And by the way, Orlando had a missed shot, turnover, and foul heading into the timeout. Then out of it, they got a dunk and a three. 

“But John, you call the timeout to change personnel!” Okay, sure. Boston had their starters on the floor. Tatum, Brown, White, Porzingis, and Al Horford. What personnel change should they make? 

Here’s the fact of the matter: We all feel in our chests when it’s time to call a timeout because it’s all we’ve ever known. Anything like 8-0 or 9-0 feels like it’s timeout time. But in the second quarter, Orlando went on a 9-0 run, Mazzulla didn’t call a timeout, and Boston finished the quarter 16-8. No one said a word. 

Mazzulla called a timeout to challenge a foul call to start the fourth and Mo Wagner scored six straight points. Mazzulla called another timeout at 85-74 and ended up down 95-81. 

And hey, I probably would have called the timeout at 8-0 in the third quarter myself. I’m not even saying Mazzulla was right or wrong to wait. The way they played in this game, it wouldn’t have made a difference unless he used it to give them all IV drips of caffeine, and maybe some rocket fuel, during the break. 

Some timeouts seem like they help. Some of them don’t really do anything. The players at this level need to figure things out in those moments, especially if they have championship aspirations. 

Next up: Boston faces Toronto on Sunday at home. That's an early tip: 6 p.m.