Starting last Saturday when we found out that Celtics (8-3 overall, 4-1 home) superstar Jayson Tatum had tested positive for Covid-19, the past week has been a bit of a mess for our favorite NBA team. You wouldn't know that based on how they performed tonight as they returned to action for their first game in a week by torching the Magic (6-6 overall, 3-3 road) 124-97 at TD Garden. The 27-point margin of victory was the largest of the season for the Celts who also won their fifth straight game. Did I mention that they have the best record in the Eastern Conference and second best in the entire league, trailing only the Lakers (11-3)? Tatum and center Robert Williams-who seemed to have caused the mini-outbreak on the Celtics-were both out but Boston managed to dress 12 healthy players who all scored at least two points apiece.
I'm not sure what the excuse was for the Magic, they are relatively healthy (injury and Coronavirus-wise although they live in Florida so who knows) but that didn't stop them from getting outscored in every quarter this evening. Boston doubled them up in points in the paint (66-33) and led by as many as 28 points in this complete laugher. With no Tatum, shooting guard Jaylen Brown (game-high 21 points, career-high 8 assists) was the best player on the court and he showed that in only 25 minutes of action. Point guard Jeff Teague (17 points) got a rare start with a juggled lineup and guard Marcus Smart added 14 points. Really all that you need to know about this contest is that forward Semi Ojeleye (18 points, 6 rebounds) outscored everyone on Orlando in just 20 minutes of work. Rookie guard Payton Pritchard had 16 points off the bench and shooting guard Javonte Green notched 10 points.
Things got extra weird in garbage time as cult icon Tacko Fall (6 points, 5 rebounds) banked in a three-pointer and later took the Magic off the dribble and drove to the basket for an exclamation point dunk. Who cares that he clearly walked, we all needed that little burst of joy in our lives. Tristan Thompson (11 rebounds) started in place of Daniel Theis (10 rebounds) at center but they each had basically the same output in 21 minutes and 20 minutes respectively. Orlando might as well have not showed up since power forward Aaron Gordon led them with a measly 17 points. Small forward Dwayne Bacon (8 rebounds), center Nikola Vucevic (6 rebounds) and rookie point guard Cole Anthony (6 rebounds) all scored 15 points while center Khem Birch (12 points, 12 rebounds) had a double-double off the bench.
This originally was supposed to be a two-game series in Boston but the first leg on Wednesday was cancelled because well you know, Covid-19. Orlando's last game was on Monday at home (a 121-99 loss to the Bucks) and tonight's latest beating gives them four losses in a row after they were one of the biggest surprises in the NBA the first few weeks. Haha just kidding, you still are completely irrelevant. If you expected a bit of a slow start by the Celtics, they showed no signs of rust as they got out to a 34-28 lead after the first quarter and 60-48 at halftime. Third quarters and protecting big advantages have been some of the only real struggles for the Celtics in 2020-21 but not this time as they outscored the Magic 28-24 in the third quarter and 36-25 in the fourth quarter.
It didn't matter how many times Orlando's grizzled old head coach Steve Clifford pulled down his mask (much to the chagrin of NBA commissioner Adam Silver who warned him this week to stop doing that) to scream at his team or keep calling useless timeouts, nothing made a difference as Boston simply ran them out of the Garden. The Celtics shot almost 11% better from the field (51.1%-40.4%), hit 10 more three-pointers (17-7), grabbed eight more defensive rebounds (39-31) and handed out 11 more assists (25-14). Assuming that they can please God all stay home tomorrow and avoid another outbreak, the good times should continue for the C's as they host the hapless Knicks (5-8) on Sunday afternoon (1, NBC Sports Boston). Former Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau is in his first miserable year (and what a time for it!) as New York's latest revolving door head coach. Thibs obviously has no other interests besides coaching basketball or family that he actually cares about since who wants to be in charge of that joke of a team? Like Orlando, the Knicks got off to a nice start this season but true to form, they've lost their last five games after falling 106-103 tonight in Cleveland (6-7). The NFL playoff games don't start until later Sunday afternoon so you might as well tune in to Celtics-Knicks, what else do you have to do in mid-January during the pandemic?
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