The Celtics, locked into their No. 2 spot in the East standings, rested all their meaningful guys against the Magic. So the depth C’s played then fell to the Magic 96-76 on Wednesday in Orlando. The Celtics dropped to 59-21 on the season while the Magic improved to 40-40, getting back to the .500 mark.
As expected, the C’s sat their entire top-6 of their rotation on the second game of a back-to-back. That allowed the bench guys to get some rare starts plus plenty of minutes against a Magic squad that still had something to play for.
The Magic built up a 19-point lead in the first half as they were dominant. But by halftime, the Celtics did cut it down to an eight-point deficit courtesy of an 11-0 run. The C’s, though, couldn’t capitalize on that momentum as the Magic again had a huge lead they maintained for the win. The Celtics scored a season-low 76 points, shooting 39% from the field.
Payton Pritchard had 15 points and 10 assists for the Celtics. Luke Kornet finished with 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Cole Anthony had 18 points and eight rebounds while Franz Wagner added 23 points and eight rebounds.
The Celtics have two games left in the regular season as they face the Hornets at 7:30 p.m. Friday at TD Garden. Here are four takeaways from Boston’s loss to Orlando:
Night off: Hours before Wednesday’s game, the Celtics downgraded Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford all as out. Jaylen Brown was also questionable before being downgraded to out pregame. The C’s were at relatively full strength Tuesday against the Knicks, only missing Horford, as they got potentially one last tune-up ahead of the playoffs. Considering they flew from New York to Orlando overnight, it was no surprise to see the C’s rest their stars.
Tough night: Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla dipped deep into the bench as different depth guys got extra minutes. Baylor Scheierman made his first career start and had some nice moments, putting up 15 points and five rebounds. Two-way forward Miles Norris also scored his first career NBA points. Overall, though, the Celtics weren’t efficient offensively throughout the night. The Magic pose problems on the defensive end as they made life uncomfortable for the bench Celtics all night.
Missing history: The Celtics were just one win away from matching NBA history coming into Wednesday’s game. The C’s set a franchise record, winning their 33rd road game after beating the Knicks. After losing to the Magic, the Celtics finished 33-8 on the road this season. That’s just one win away from matching the 2015-16 Warriors’ 34-7 mark, which was an NBA record. But instead of chasing after that, the Celtics elected to rest their key guys with the playoffs so close.
East standings: While the Celtics entered Wednesday’s game already solidified as the No. 2 seed, that wasn’t the case for the Magic. Orlando beat the Hawks on Tuesday then came away with the win over the shorthanded C’s on Wednesday. Wednesday’s win officially locks in the Magic as the No. 7 team in the East. That means they’ll have home-court advantage in the play-in tournament, and if they win their first game, they’ll meet the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The No. 8 spot in the East is still contested between the Hawks, Bulls and Heat. The Magic will now look to advance to the playoffs for the second straight season.
