BSJ Game Report: Celtics 120, Magic 89 - Banchero foul trouble triggers C's barrage, series win

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' win over Orlando in Game 5 their opening-round series, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics started the first quarter weirdly sloppy, turning it over six times for nine Magic points. They recovered nicely cut the lead to four after one, but that deficit grew to nine before they finally found some life. They took a brief lead, fell behind by two at halftime, and then went on their first prolonged run of the series. Their 30-9 run to close the third turned a tie game into a 21-point game, and the rest was elementary. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- The real Celtics finally showed up: It took a while, but the Celtics finally got back to being themselves in the second half of Game 5. They shot 13-18 from 3 after a 0-6 first half, they protected the ball (only two turnovers), and the Celtics racked up 17 assists. We haven't seen this kind of explosion in a long time. It was nice to see.

- Turns out Paolo Banchero is important to Orlando: We knew the Magic offense would struggle with him on the bench in foul trouble, but the defense went down the toilet without him. Suddenly, the Magic were making regular-season mistakes, giving Boston two-on-one opportunities, and allowing a barrage of 3-pointers. They melted down without their star. 

“They had to go to a double-big lineup that they haven't gone to before, and they changed their coverages, and they did less switching,” Joe Mazzulla explained after the game. “When there's less switching, there's easier 2-on-1s.

- Good riddance: I, for one, am glad to be rid of the Magic. I’ll get into the great lessons Boston learned in a separate piece. For now I’m just happy that the Celtics have time to let some of these bruises heal and that no one else was seriously hurt 

TURNING POINT 

Banchero committed his fifth foul with 9:46 to go in the third quarter. The Celtics took full advantage, going on that 30-9 run, finally hitting some 3-pointers, and putting the game away. 

SECOND GUESS

Jamahl Mosley should have gone back to Banchero at the TV timeout with 2:48 to go in the third. At that point, the lead was still only 10 but things were slipping away fast. Waiting until the start of the fourth was too late. Orlando’s offense isn’t good enough to come back from 21 down against Boston, but they have fought back from 10. 

Worst case scenario is that he fouls out and they lose by a million, which happened anyway. Best-case is that Orlando fights back, the refs swallow the whistles to avoid fouling out a star, and they make it a winnable slog. That was their only chance at recovering from Boston’s run, but Mosley missed it. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Finally breaking a game open: It has been a minute since we’ve seen a ball-moving, shot-making, spirit-busting Celtics run. That final 2:48 of the third was especially good and, in a way, cathartic for the Celtics. They spent most of this series fighting a bare-knuckles match, so it was nice to see a little Sugar Ray Leonard in there. 

- Jayson Tatum: He and Larry Bird are the only Celtics with three straight 35-point playoff games. As much as he’s programmed himself to become a distributor, the individual scorer is still a part of his DNA, and he can tap into that when needed. His final line: 35 points (10-16 fg, 4-5 3pt, 11-11 ft), eight rebounds, 10 assists. 

- Jaylen Brown: It took him longer to get going, but he joined the party in the third quarter and was dominating those first few minutes with Banchero in the game. 

“It took me a minute to kind of get warmed up,” Brown said. “I felt a little bit better at the start of the third quarter. But definitely something I’ve got to be better at, just starting the games. And that’s usually what I do. I’m usually the one that throws the first punch, but my body didn’t feel great until the second half.”

Brown finished with 23/6/3, but 15 of his points came in the second half. It was his drive attacking Banchero that drew the fifth foul. 

- The bench: We finally got a strong game from Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Luke Kornet, who combined for 29 points on 11-15 shooting (4-6 3pt). Most of that damage was done in the second half. 

- The Pistons winning: The Celtics get to rest while the Knicks and Pistons continue to beat the snot out of each other. Go Pistons!

THING I DIDN’T LIKE

- Coming out flat: I’m kind of surprised that the Celtics came out as poorly as they did. They looked awful for most of it. 

“We didn’t really like the way we played in the first half and we were only down two,” Tatum said. “We just stuck with it and kind of turned it up a notch and the game was able to open up for us.”

I’m not going to lie, I thought about booking my Orlando flight in that second quarter, and I was not happy about it.

I honestly think that first half would have gone much differently if Tatum and Brown didn’t knock the rebound out of bounds when it was 4-0 Boston to start the game. Orlando didn’t look great and Boston actually didn’t look bad. But then they scored off that play and a subsequent Boston turnover and things got ugly. 

I’ll never be able to prove it unless Rick Sanchez show up with a portal gun, but I believe securing that rebound and scoring would have been the start of a big early run that would have made this game more comfortable earlier. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Jayson Tatum is ascending. 

Tatum put up 36, 37, and 35 points in the final three games of this series, taking advantage of Orlando’s physical play to shoot a perfect 37-37 from the line in that stretch. His averages this series: 31.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 5.3 apg. 

We can quibble with some of the shot selection, but you tell me how 31/11/5 in a playoff series is anything but elite. 

“You don't want it to be stagnant. We want to utilize everybody on our team,” Tatum said. “But sometimes it does call for a matchup that we have and we to get to our spacing and you got to trust the guy with the ball, whether it's myself or JB or whoever to make the right play. If it's attacking your man and playing off two feet and getting to the cup five times in a row, whatever. That's what we got to do.”

Everyone agrees this Magic team is extraordinarily tough. They blur the line between physical and dirty play and they knocked the Celtics off their axis for most of this series. And yet here was Tatum, always finding ways to deliver. 

“This season was the most relaxed and carefree that I've been in my career” he said. “Understanding that we won last year and we accomplished the ultimate goal and you kind of got that monkey off your back. So obviously the goal is still the same this year to win and compete for a championship, but I've just enjoyed this season of playing carefree basketball and not having that hang over my head. It's been fun to do and just a sense of freedom. I've just carried the season with that.”

Tatum has been incredible in the calendar year 2025. I don’t know how the rest of this playoffs will go, but I’m ready for a legitimate MVP campaign next season. The Celtics are going to have to retool a little, and Tatum is showing he can play however the team needs in order to win consistently. 

Next up: The Celtics await the winner of the Knicks-Pistons series.