Boston Celtics, playing without Jayson Tatum, fail in Orlando

Boston Celtics, playing without Jayson Tatum, fail in Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tristan da Silva scored 18 points and made a game-winning 3-pointer with 9.9 seconds left, and the Orlando Magic rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to cruise to a 108-104 victory Monday night the Boston Celtics, who were missing Jayson Tatum due to an illness.

With Tatum sidelined two nights after his 43-point triple-double in a win at Chicago, Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 35 points.

Boston led 58-43 at halftime, but the Magic dominated the third quarter, tying the game at the end of the quarter, and taking a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Celtics made a late run and Brown’s layup put Boston up 105-104 with 59.6 seconds left. Al Horford missed a potential three-pointer for the Celtics and da Silva responded with his game-winning three-pointer.

Trevelin Queen added 17 points in his first NBA start and Jalen Suggs scored 16 for the Magic. Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White each scored 17 points for the Celtics.

Magic center Goga Bitadze was sent off with 3:36 left for getting into an altercation between Suggs and Porzingis, both of which drew technical fouls.

Takeaways

Celtics: The reigning NBA champions went cold in the second half of their final road game of 2024.

Magic: Orlando was outplayed in the first half for the second straight time while playing without Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Mo Wagner, but still found a way to win.

Key moment

Late in the third quarter, Cole Anthony lost the ball on a drive, stole it back in the corner and got around the 7-foot-3 Porzingis and 7-2 Luke Kornet for a reverse layup to put the Magic up 73 to take the first lead -72.

Key statistics

The Celtics, who averaged nearly 19 3-pointers per game on 51 attempts, shot 8 for 32 from distance.

Next

Celtics: Host Philadelphia on Christmas Day.

Magic: Host Miami on Thursday night.

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