The Boston Celtics have won games two ways this season, and Wednesday’s 116-100 win over the Orlando Magic wasn’t one of either example.
Boston has oscillated between slow-starting, come-from-behind wins peppered with occasional wire-to-wire blowouts in the games they’ve won this season, but this game was close almost the entire way through.
A not-small factor behind that was the number of key players sitting out to recuperate — the Celtics sat an All-Star starter in Kemba Walker with knee soreness and starting center Daniel Theis, who rolled his ankle pretty badly in the win over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Guard Marcus Smart also sat with a hip contusion, and of course second-year center Robert Williams III was out with his injured hip, all of which contributed to rookie Romeo Langford’s first career start.
While the first-year wing did not excel on his first such nod, he didn’t fall flat on his face either.
A strong first quarter by East Player of the Week Jaylen Brown — who finished with 18 points and 5 rebounds — and a big night from All-Star swingman Jayson Tatum (33 points, 8 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks!) more than made up for resting or green teammates.
Gordon Hayward added 23 points, 7 rebounds and as many assists, and rookie Grant Williams continued to take baby steps towards becoming a key rotation player with a 13-point, 6-rebound night off the bench.
Orlando led early with a 12-5 run to start the game, but Brown and Hayward quickly wrested it back, and the Celtics led for nearly the entire remainder of the contest, pulling away late in the fourth and final frame.
The Magic saw strong performances from shooting guard Evan Fournier (26 points) and forward Aaron Gordon (23 points and 10 rebounds), and wing Terrence Ross had 18 points off the bench in Orlando’s losing effort.
The Boston Celtics next face the Atlanta Hawks in a home rematch at TD Garden this Friday, February 7th at 7:30pm ET.
