BSJ Game Report: Celtics 138, Magic 129 - Brown's 35 saves Celtics after blowing big lead

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' win over the Magic, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics shot well and got a nice boost from their bench, but fouls kept Orlando within five after one. The Celtics turned on the defense and cashed in on almost everything on their way to a 48-point second quarter and a 23-point halftime lead. The Magic got hot in the third and cut the lead down to six in the fourth, but Boston was able to hold them off.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- The best and the worst of the Celtics: The second quarter was Boston at their best, while the fourth was them at some of their worst. They won the second 48-30 behind great defense, transition, and shot-making. They lost the fourth 40-28 by relaxing too much and not continuing to do what worked. 

“We had (a) good lead, and those guys came in and just played hard, on the Orlando side,” Jaylen Brown said. “They got some shots to go down and they felt good. Obviously, we got to do a better job of that. Don't let human nature kind of seep in. But I think the first three quarters, I thought we did a good job.”

- Jaylen Brown the closer: He scored 13 in the fourth quarter, 12 of which came consecutively as he was holding off the hard-charging Magic. It was just enough to hold onto the lead. 

- Offensive explosion: The Celtics shot 60.2% on their way to 138 points, both season-bests. They shot 15-33 from 3, which was all very much needed to keep pace with Orlando’s 16-38. 

- Neemias Queta hurt: He turned his left ankle in the first quarter and never returned to the bench. There were no updates from the team after the game, so we’ll have to wait and see what his status will be for Wednesday’s game against Detroit. That's already going to be a tough game, but not having him against a tough rebounding team like that will make things very difficult.

TURNING POINT 

The Celtics mid-second quarter run broke the game open. The game was hovering around five points for the first part of the second quarter, then a few different Celtics took turns throwing haymakers that landed and pushed the lead past 20. They built a lead big enough that it withstood Orlando’s monster fourth-quarter run. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Jaylen Brown: Another 30+ point night, his eighth of the season. He had nine last season, 16 the year before, and 22 in the ‘22-’23 season. That was his career best. He probably won’t play 82 games this season, but if he does, he’s on pace for 38 30-plus point games. 

He finished with 35 points on 14-26 shooting, and he added eight assists. He’s carrying the offense. 

- Anfernee Simons: When this dude gets going, there's no stopping the buckets. He finished with 23 points on 8-11 shooting (4-7 3pt), and he did it in just 22 minutes. 

“That's what we need,” Brown said. “Anfernee is capable offensively. We've got to continue to find spots and space for him to be a playmaker for himself and for others. [We need him] to be aggressive.” 

- Josh Minott: He had a stretch of 10-straight Celtics points in the second quarter as they were breaking the game open. Getting 16 points on 7-8 shooting is such a plus for the Celtics because he’s much more of a disruptive defender than he is a reliable scorer. He hit a couple of 3-pointers, but I liked him operating out of the dunker spot and racking up assists for Brown. 

- 3-point shooting: Derrick White was 2-4. Sam Hauser was 4-7. Simons was 4-7. All of them needed a few shots to fall, obviously White and Hauser more than anyone. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Chris Boucher: He was getting roasted left and right. I’m starting to think this signing might not be panning out. 

- First half fouling: The Celtics go through too many stretches of too many minutes where they can’t stop fouling. Orlando lived at the line early on, which is why the Celtics couldn't pull away sooner. I think Brown has been taking some cheap ones lately, which is helping teams get to the bonus sooner.

-  The second half defense … especially the fourth quarter: As much as I hated the fouling in the first half, I would have actually preferred a few fouls in the fourth quarter because at least the Celtics would have touched someone defensively instead of allowing a steady stream of layups and 3-pointers. 

Allowing Jett Howard and Jase Richardson to score 36 combined points in a quarter like that is embarrassing. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Joe Mazzulla’s lineup decisions are a game within the game. 

Just when you think you have a read on some regularity within Mazzulla’s lineup decisions, he throws another Greg Maddux change-up and has you wondering what’s going on. 

This time, it’s Luka Garza who pulled a DNP after being a fairly regular backup to Queta. But when Queta went down with the ankle sprain, it was Boucher who got the call and then the Celtics went super small after that, with Minott at even Jordan Walsh getting time at the five. 

The Magic weren’t playing a traditional center either, so I’m sure Mazzulla decided that Garza would get barbecued by all the athletic, smaller players. And I’m not criticizing the decision at all because I wouldn’t want Garza out there in that spot, either. 

At the same time, it challenges the conventional wisdom of what we know rotations to look like. 

“We just always give the game what it needs,” Mazzulla said after the game. “That's the most important thing … I think our team has an understanding of that, and we’ve just got to continue to get better at that. You have to give the game what it needs every single night, and that could call for whatever the case may be, depending upon lineup, situation, sub patterns, foul trouble, matchups, all kinds of things. So I think that they're learning and understanding what the responsibility is, regardless of what the minutes are.”

The bottom line is that Mazzulla has proven that we can’t make any assumptions with the lineups. Only a handful of people are getting guaranteed minutes right now. Most of these guys are flawed enough to be good in some situations and bad in others. And Mazzulla has no qualms about going with different guys on different nights because he believes they all understand that this is how things have to be. 

It’s just fun to figure out who it will be on different nights. 

Next Up: The Celtics host the Pistons on Wednesday evening at 5 p.m.