Deep blow for the Magic! On the final matchday of the regular NBA season, Orlando suffered another surprising defeat against the star-less Boston Celtics and thus lost home court advantage in the first play-in round.
As the safe runner-up in the Eastern Conference, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, as expected, only sent a B team onto the court against Orlando. In addition to Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic were also missing.
In the opening minutes, it looked as if the Magic would be able to capitalize on their lack of manpower. An 11:0 run midway through the opening quarter gave the home side an early double-digit lead (29:18). Franz Wagner played himself into the spotlight with two quick threes and kept up the tempo in the minutes that followed with many aggressive drives on the fast break.
However, the Celtics did not simply let themselves be shaken off. That was due on the one hand to the many turnovers by Orlando (11 up to the break alone and 19 in the end). On the other hand, the congenial duo of Ron Harper Jr. (27, 10/20) and Baylor Scheierman (30 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST), who each set a personal season best, were also responsible for this.
Scheierman runs hot after the break – Garza brings the decision
The change of ends did nothing to change that – on the contrary! Scheierman in particular went into a frenzy and hit several threes off the dribble in succession. Orlando’s offense, on the other hand, seemed anemic. Franz Wagner (20, 7/18) was hapless on the fast break on several occasions. Paolo Banchero (23, 7/22) did not get into the game at all for a long time. In the end, Boston won the period by a clear 42:20.
The Magic went into the final quarter -13 (94:81) down. However, the game was not yet decided. Boston’s few key players slowly ran out of steam. Meanwhile, Orlando was able to reduce the deficit bit by bit. Suggs (23, 7/15 threes) even managed to equalize in the final minute (108:108). The fact that it was still not enough for a successful turnaround was due to Luka Garza (27 PTS, 12 REB), who was also outstanding. The Bosnian-American center drained a closely defended three-pointer directly after a throw-in with 30 seconds remaining – the deciding factor.
After five wins in a row, the Orlando Magic thus suffered a bitter setback. Due to the parallel victory of the Philadelphia 76ers, the team with the German trio even loses seventh place and has to play away in the first play-in round.