
4 takeaways as Boston Celtics down Magic in Video game 2
BOSTON– The Celtics passed their first-ever playoff test without Jayson Tatum. They beat the Magic 109-100 on Wednesday at TD Garden in Game 2 of the first-round series. While it again a physical game, the C’s outlived the Magic to take the 2-0 series lead.It was another grindfest, including a similar script as the Celtics’ Game 1 win. The Celtics went up double-digits, but Orlando rallied after calling timeouts a minute apart from each other to force a close game by halftime.Jaylen Brown imposed his will early– as he delights in doing– with Tatum out. Plus, Kristaps Porzingis lived at the complimentary throw line in the very first half. The Celtics built up a 15-point lead in the second half, though the Magic refused to go down without making it intriguing. But the Magic could not string together sufficient stops as the Celtics rounded off the win.Brown ended up with a game-high 36 points in a remarkable night. Porzingis added another 20 points and 10 rebounds. Paolo Banchero had another stellar game, ending up with 32 points, nine rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Magic while Franz Wagner added 25 points.The Celtics and Magic fulfill for Game 3 at 7 p.m. Friday in Orlando next in the series.
Here are 4 takeaways from Boston’s win over Orlando: Stepping up: With Tatum out, Brown was more than ready to take on the scoring concern Wednesday. He was effective and terrific, shooting 12-for-19 from the field, including 5-for-7 on 3s, on his method to 36 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. He likewise had a thunderous dunk that showed his annoying right knee wasn’t slowing him down Wednesday. The Celtics needed all that and after that some with Tatum out, who was on the Celtics bench with a brace on his injured right wrist. Porzingis, while he didn’t shoot well at 5-for-14, went 10-for-14 from the free throw line as he also played through a cut on his head.Playoff moment: When Porzingis needed four stitches in the Suns game April 4, strolling off the court, he had his UFC moment. He interested the crowd
and soaked in the moment. Well, not even 3 weeks later on, Porzingis got another gash to his head due to an elbow from Goga Bitadze late in the third quarter. This cut was a lot more gnarly with more blood. However in what will go down as a memorable playoff minute, Porzingis was soon back on the court with a plaster on his head. He shot the totally free tosses after Bitadze was required the ostentatious nasty before leaving once again. And, yes, the Garden crowd was everything about it as they roared their approval for the big guy as he completed out the win.Tensions increase: Celtics fans booed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope right from starter intros after his flagrant-1 nasty led to Tatum harming his wrist. As anticipated over the course of a playoff series, sparks flew midway through the game
. Al Horford called out Caldwell-Pope thinking there was “something additional”to the nasty on Tatum. On the other hand, the Magic guard said he thought it was simply a basketball play. Those 2 got tangled up adding the court in the 2nd quarter. That’s when Horford took exception, plus Brown increased to Caldwell-Pope afterwards. The run-in was short and the nasty, after review, was considered as common and not updated to an ostentatious. But watch on how these 2 groups scrap in the upcoming games of this series.Checking the margins: While the Celtics had success going out in transition in Game 1, they didn’t get as numerous opportunities Wednesday. They completed with 7 fast-break points as the Magic didn’t let them run. However the C’s made up for that by consistently getting to the totally free throw line, going 25-for-33 there compared to 15-for-24 for the Magic. The Celtics also had the 20-10 edge in second-chance points as they had 13 offensive rebounds to the Magic’s seven. The C’s gave up eight offending rebounds in the very first quarter of Video game 1, however otherwise, they’ve kept the Magic from rebounding their own misses out on ever since.