Nobody rolls over faster than an NBA team that's destined for the draft lottery (as Charles Barkley loves to say about tanking teams "1-2-3 Cancun!") with a few games remaining in their regular season. The Celtics (35-31 overall, 14-18 away) were a first-hand witness to that phenomenon tonight at the Amway Center as they destroyed the hapless Magic (21-45 overall, 11-24 home) 132-96. Point guard Kemba Walker tied his season-high with 32 points while swingman Jayson Tatum (27 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks) played well with shooting guard Jaylen Brown sidelined with an ankle injury. This was never even close since Boston led by 12 points after the first quarter (39-27) and never looked back, outscoring Orlando by at least six points in each subsequent frame.
Shooting guard Evan Fournier (18 points, 2 steals) actually got a tribute video from the Magic (in his 1st game back) after he spent parts of six seasons there. Guard Marcus Smart (9 assists) was not suspended after he was ejected from Sunday's loss to Portland (37-29). After two days between games (a rarity in 2020-21), this game could not have turned out much better from Boston's perspective. Nobody on the Celts played more than Kemba's 31 minutes, all nine bench guys for Boston got to play for at least five minutes apiece and each player scored a minimum of two points. Everybody's favorite backup center/full-time giant human Tacko Fall (4 blocks) was able to partake in the fun. Rookie guard Payton Pritchard added 14 points in 18 minutes off the bench. Orlando had nine total players available for the game if you were wondering how seriously they were taking this farce of a matchup.
It might have been a textbook fake win but the Celtics will take it since the result put them in a tie with Miami (35-31) for sixth-place in the Eastern Conference. The Celts own the tiebreakers against the Heat so at the moment, they are just barely clear of the play-in tournament (No. 7-10 teams). On Friday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston), Boston goes to Chicago (26-39 overall, 12-20 home) to face a club that hasn't officially been eliminated from playoff contention but that formality will happen any day now. The Bulls have lost their last four games in a row so much like the Magic, this seems like a great time to face them at the United Center. I'm guessing that contest will be at least a little more competitive because you literally could not try less than Orlando did this evening but we shall see.
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