The Boston Celtics, for the first time in Jayson Tatum’s playoff career, took the floor without their six-time All-Star for Wednesday night’s Game 2 matchup against the Orlando Magic at TD Garden.
Tatum’s nagging bone bruise injury in his right wrist left the Celtics no choice but to rule the 27-year-old out, leaving it up for the rest of the team to weather the storm. The Magic continued to impose their defensive physicality in hopes of throwing Boston off its A-game, without its No. 1 scoring option. It didn’t work.
Boston rallied around Tatum’s absence and gave him a performance to cheer for from the bench. Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis didn’t back down from whatever Orlando threw their way, even when it left one 7-footer dripping blood. The Celtics defended their home floor, spoiled the Magic’s unoriginal scheme and cornered their first-round foe with a 2-0 series lead as both teams head to Orlando next.
Here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 109-100 Game 2 victory over Orlando:
STUDS
Jaylen Brown
The Celtics needed a leader and Brown was every bit of one.
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Brown countered Orlando’s physical approach with a fierce offensive performance that the Magic couldn’t handle. The four-time All-Star recorded a 36-point and 10-rebound double-double as Brown finished as the game’s leading scorer. He shot 12-of-19 from the field, knocked down five 3-point attempts and tallied five assists to help get others involved and ensure Tatum’s absence wouldn’t haunt the defending champs.
Paolo Banchero
For the second straight game, Banchero proved to be a problem.
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The 22-year-old scored a team-high 32 points with nine rebounds and seven assists to do his part. Banchero, however, didn’t have enough help to compete and keep up with the Celtics. Banchero wasn’t much of a threat from beyond the arc as he shot 2-of-6 from three, but the 2024 All-Star still gave Boston’s defense troubles and showed the moment isn’t too big for him to perform.
Kristaps Porzingis
If there were a Most Valuable Crowd Pleaser award, it would’ve gone straight to Porzingis.
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Boston’s starting center, always known to relish in the crowd-erupting moments, didn’t fail the home crowd in Game 2. Porzingis in the second half got nailed in the center of his temple with a left elbow from Orlando’s Goga Bitadze, and went down leaking streams of blood. Bitadze was charged with a flagrant foul while Porzingis — seconds later — returned from the player’s tunnel to knock down a free-throw attempt.
Porzingis finished the night with 20 points and 10 rebounds to secure a double-double of his own — plus five stitches on his noggin.
DUDS
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
There was no bigger enemy in the building than Caldwell-Pope.
Responsible for Tatum’s absence, Caldwell-Pope was showered with boos from the crowd from start to finish. Yet, even though the 32-year-old tried to play into the crowd’s antics by challenging Celtics fans to be even louder, Caldwell-Pope still laid a post-Easter egg at Orlando’s expense. He shot 1-for-9 from the floor and 0-for-6 from 3-point range across 35 starting minutes to give the Magic just three points, and Boston everything it needed.
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Jamahl Mosley
Orlando’s head coach failed, again, in trying to bring Boston down with the physical game.
Mosley forgot there’s also a scoring side to basketball, and the Magic weren’t prepared to capitalize on Tatum’s absence in that department. Orlando’s only tricks prove to be fool’s gold in its pockets as the team shot an atrocious 24.1% from three (on 29 attempts) and an equally costly 62.5% from the free-throw line. So while Mosley’s squad fully committed to its tough guy act, none of it translated on the court.
Goga Bitadze
The Magic didn’t plan to play Bitadze for extended minutes, but the 25-year-old added himself to Boston’s enemy list alongside Caldwell-Pope.
Bitadze’s vicious elbow swing was his biggest contribution of the night. He logged eight minutes off the bench and grabbed three rebounds with two points, and if the series does make its way back to Boston, Bitadze should expect a shower of boos waiting for him at TD Garden. His antics might also ignite a response from the Celtics that could come in the form of a commanding 3-0 series lead in Orlando on Friday night.
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