Final: Celtics 121, Magic 94 - Tatum drops 30 in much-needed easy win

BOSTON CELTICS (28-12) vs. ORLANDO MAGIC (23-19)

TD Garden, 7:00 p.m. - ESPN, NBCS Boston

Line: Celtics -14.5

INJURIES

Boston: None

Orlando: Goga Bitadze (OUT, concussion), Gary Harris (OUT, hamstring), Jett Howard (OUT, ankle), Jalen Suggs (OUT, back), Franz Wagner (OUT, return from injury reconditioning), Moritz Wagner (OUT, ACL)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Play hard: I’m going as simple as I can with this one. I’m not asking for anything big tonight. I’m just asking the Celtics to read the room. They're coming off the most disappointing loss of recent memory, fans are upset, and they're back home. Putting up a stinker effort here would be almost disrespectful at this point. Come out strong, show the fans you care, and we can go from there. 

2. Run good offense: Just make the right reads and shoot the shots that present themselves. I don’t even care if they go in. If the shots generated are good, they will start to fall. That's the best way to get where they need to be. So if that's 60 3-pointers, so be it. If that's 60 points in the paint, so be it. Just make the right reads and don’t force any particular shot. 

3. Defend: Know your assignments, know what the team is doing on a particular play, and do it. Don’t switch when you’re supposed to maintain or vice versa. Understand what the plan is with Paolo Banchero and execute it. 

I feel like this is all remedial stuff, but these are all the most basic building blocks of the Celtics getting back to being themselves. 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.