Beede’s breakdown: How Magic got a tough win over the defending champion Celtics

Beede’s breakdown: How Magic got a tough win over the defending champion Celtics

With Saturday’s 25-point comeback against the Heat, Jamahl Mosley’s team achieved everything it could and more on Monday night against the Celtics.

Despite missing three of their top four scorers in Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Moe Wagner, the Magic survived a late run by Boston (22-7) to claim a 108-104 victory at the Kia Center.

In their first game without Sixth Man of the Year candidate Moe Wagner, who tore the ACL in his left knee on Saturday, Orlando relied on a variety of scorers, five of whom scored in double figures.

Four-time Boston All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum was added late to the injury report due to an illness and missed the heated contest.

The Magic (19-12) continue their seven-game homestand Thursday against the Heat on the first night of back-to-back games. Orlando hosts the Knicks the following evening.

From 5

A new one and the tenth of the season for Orlando.

In his 36th NBA appearance, Magic two-way guard Trevelin Queen made his first career start and was in the opening lineup alongside Jalen Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tristan da Silva and Goga Bitadze.

But when each group of players appears on the pitch together for the first time, there is bound to be some initial dysfunction.

The Magic turned the ball over six times in the first quarter. They finished with 20 points, with Boston scoring 29 points.

Suggs, who was upgraded from questionable to available before the game while battling a right ankle sprain that forced him to miss the win over Miami, returned to the court and rebounded with 16 points.

Queen, who splits his time in the G League between Orlando and Osceola, earned the start after providing a boost off the bench against the Heat. He achieved his career high with 17 points.

He was active on both ends and intercepted a Boston pass to get to the free throw line in the second quarter. Despite picking up four fouls in three quarters, Queen made two three-pointers and regularly encouraged the Kia Center crowd to make more noise.

Bitadze filled the stat sheet with 8 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals in 21 minutes while giving Orlando an important perimeter presence.

But he was sent off with 3:36 to play after touching the throat of Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis during a scuffle.

Second unit

With Queen in the starting lineup, Wendell Carter Jr. was moved to the bench to make up for a lack of size following Moe Wagner’s season-ending injury.

Carter joined Anthony Black (9 points), Cole Anthony (10), Jett Howard and Jonathan Isaac as Orlando’s reserves.

The Magic center, who started all 17 games in which he appeared before Monday, brought energy off the bench with 11 points and 7 rebounds.

Orlando’s backup backcourt of Black and Anthony helped distribute the ball, and all five reserves scored. The Magic had a 41-11 advantage in bench points.

Rookie watch

The No. 18 helped push the tempo, spread the field (4 of 8 from 3) and defend well as he played 36 minutes.

The rookie scored a team-high 18 points with 3 rebounds and continued to look comfortable on the court in his 20th start of his rookie season.

His third three-pointer put the Magic ahead by 10 with three minutes to play, and his fourth sealed the victory.

Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *