ORLANDO, Fla. — Moritz Wagner scored 27 points, and the Orlando Magic rallied to defeat the Boston Celtics 113-96 on Friday for their sixth consecutive victory, throwing the Eastern Conference’s Group C up for grabs in the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament.
What You Need To Know
- Orlando rallied for a 113=96 victory against Boston on Friday
- The Magic are now 3-1 in Group C play in the NBA's first In-Season Tournament
- Orlando's Moe Wagner came off the bench to lead all scorers with 27 points
- The Magic's must wait until Tuesday night to find out whether they will advance
Paolo Banchero had 23 points and seven rebounds for Orlando, which finished group play at 3-1 after losing its first tournament game by 20 points at Brooklyn on Nov. 14.
“I think the Brooklyn game, it was kind of frustrating because it was like we didn’t realize it was a tournament game, and we felt like we just handed them the game,” Banchero said. “These last three, we’ve completely flipped it and took it a lot more seriously.”
With Boston and the Brooklyn Nets scheduled to complete pool play on Tuesday night, the Magic can qualify for the knockout rounds (final eight) either as the Group C winner or as a wild card, depending on game results and point differentials. Orlando finished with a plus-22 differential. The Nets are currently at plus-8, and the Celtics are at 0.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 26 points. Jaylen Brown added 18 but made just 2 of 16 shots after scoring 12 points in the first 10 minutes. The Celtics, who came into the game with an NBA-best 12-3 record, made only 7 of 29 3-point shots and were outrebounded 48-31.
“You’re definitely frustrated when you’re not making shots, but at the end of the day, it goes back to two things: transition (defense) and the offensive rebounds,” Boson coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Moritz Wagner, the older and bigger brother of Magic starter Franz Wagner, scored 10 consecutive Magic points while they were pulling away to a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a game, it’s not controllable. Sometimes it comes to you and then you just take advantage of it,” said Moe Wagner, whose season-high point total came in 24 minutes. “There’s something really enjoyable about that process. You can get lost in that and just play, and it’s going to come back around.”
Jalen Suggs hit two of the Magic’s four 3-pointers on a 17-0 run after Boston had taken a 62-50 lead early in the third quarter. The Celtics missed all eight shots during the game-changing run and went scoreless for 4 minutes, 42 seconds.
Boston center Kristaps Porzingis left the game in the third quarter with tightness in his left calf after scoring nine points and taking down four rebounds. The Celtics also played without Jrue Holiday, who missed a game for the first time this season with a sprained right ankle.
“Obviously, we’re a much better team when everybody’s healthy. But throughout the course of the season, there’s going to be nights where you know certain guys are out,” Tatum said. “We can’t use that as an excuse for why we didn’t win the game. We’ve still got to figure out a way to get the job done.”
Moe Wagner and Cole Anthony (16 points, six assists) led the Magic bench to 57 points, one fewer than the bench had accumulated in Wednesday night’s win over the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
Up next
Celtics: Host Atlanta on Sunday night.
Magic: Host Charlotte on Sunday night.