Post Game - Celtics vs. Magic - Sunday, December 17 (W)

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401584972

While we wait for the post-game write-up, there's this . . .

Celtics-Magic takeaways: Jaylen takes over as C's finish perfect homestand

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-magic-takeaways-jaylen-takes-224853529.html

Justin Leger
Sun, Dec 17, 2023, 5:48 PM EST·3 min read



Celtics-Magic takeaways: Jaylen takes over as C's finish perfect homestand originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Three Key Storylines

Jaylen Brown takes over
Paolo Banchero can't carry Orlando
A balanced effort by Boston

For the second consecutive game, the Boston Celtics defeated the Orlando Magic to stay undefeated this season at TD Garden.

They followed Friday's win over Orlando with a 114-97 victory on Sunday afternoon. The miniseries sweep avenged last year's losses to the Magic, who beat the C's twice on the same December weekend in Boston.

The Celtics improved to 14-0 this season at home. They've won 21 consecutive regular-season games at TD Garden dating back to last year.

The Celtics (20-5) will begin a four-game West Coast road trip Tuesday night when they take on the Golden State Warriors (11-14). First, here are three quick takeaways from Sunday's action.

Jaylen Brown stays hot

Brown has played some of his best basketball over the last week, and his torrid stretch continued on Sunday afternoon.

The two-time All-Star didn't have his typical hot start, but he made his presence felt with nine points in the second quarter to help swing the momentum in Boston's favor. His contributions were much-needed while Jayson Tatum missed most of the frame due to foul trouble.

Brown put the exclamation point on his stellar homestand with a fourth-quarter takeover. He scored or assisted on Boston's first 12 points of the final period and finished with 17 (7-9 FG, 3-4 3-PT) in the frame. His 31 total points came on an efficient 12-of-20 shooting performance (5-8 3-PT).





It was another outstanding all-around game for Brown, who shined again on the defensive end while quieting the naysayers with six assists.

Paolo Banchero can't carry Magic

For a while, it looked like Paolo Banchero could single-handedly lift the Magic to a bounce-back victory at TD Garden. The first overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft notched 19 of his team's 31 points in the first quarter -- the highest-scoring first quarter of his young career.

It was also the highest-scoring first half (26 points) of Banchero's career, topping his previous high of 22 set against Boston last year on Dec. 18.



No one else on the Magic stepped up when the C's slowed Banchero down in the second half. The 21-year-old finished with 36 points (14-30 FG), and Jalen Suggs was Orlando's next-highest scorer with 13. No other Magic player scored in double figures.

Magic players not named Banchero combined to shoot 20-of-69 (29 percent) from the floor and 7-for-26 (26.9 percent) from deep. Their inability to find secondary scoring proved to be the difference.

Balanced Boston effort

While the Magic couldn't find any offensive rhythm outside of Banchero, the Celtics had contributions from every player who checked in on Sunday.

All five C's starters scored in double digits for the 10th time this season and the fifth time this month. Brown's 31 points were followed by Jayson Tatum (23 points), Kristaps Porzingis (15 points), Jrue Holiday (14 points), and Derrick White (10 points). Al Horford added eight points while being a team-best +19 off the bench.



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The Celtics shot a scorching 47.4 percent from the field (45-95) and 47.2 percent from long range (17-36). They are now 20-1 this season when shooting 43.5 percent or better on field goals, and 18-0 when shooting at least 33.3 percent from 3.

Team defense also was a highlight in Sunday's victory. All five C's starters notched at least one block with White (three blocks) leading the group. Porzingis tallied 10 rebounds for a double-double in his return to the starting lineup.

I, for one, will not resent Jaylen if he starts complaining that he is not being paid enough.

Once again a great game by the team. In the past I have been vocal in my criticism of JB. Time to get vocal in his appreciation. Don’t know what triggered it. New coaches? Porzingis? Whatever it is, I am loving it.

Me too Prakash. and I'm also glad to see Payton earning his salary.

The Celtics wrapped up their head to head matchups with NY, Cleveland and Orlando.

They hold the tie breaker against all 3 teams. Last year those same 3 teams held the advantage over us.

Winning 5 games in a row against quality opponents is no easy task yet the boys in Green did just that. Records for teams in terms of wins and losses does not tell the whole story. The Celtics have matched last year's 20-5 record to start however the 14-0 record at home is special. Not a lot of cream puffs in these numbers as the Celtics have played a total of 18 of 25 games against quality teams and are now 14-4 in those games.

My Tommy Award goes to Jrue Holiday who set the tone on both defense and offense to get the team in the right place.

JB had an excellent showing and it wasn't just his 17 4th QTR points. You can just see his transition from being a top scorer to a player that finds open teammates. His defense also looks better than last season because he is more consistent in his coverage.

This team is quite different than last year. As long as they play great defense and push the tempo, they will be one tough out for any team.

worcester wrote:Me too Prakash. and I'm also glad to see Payton earning his salary.

True dat!!!

24-8 fta advantage for Orlando.  We won, so this isn't sour grapes, but the refs sucked last night.  They swallowed their whistles early on for both teams, that's ok, but then they started calling fouls on us that Orlando was getting away with on the immediately previous possession.  It was a 17 win for us but it would have been closer to 30 if fritos had been anywhere near parity.


Once again we avoid another Mo Wagner Revenge game.  What he's so pissed about I have no idea.  Doesn't he like playing with his brother and getting regular minutes?  Didn't we do him a favor?

Paolo Banchero looked like a #1 pick last night.  We should remember this is only his 2nd season and he only turned 21 last month.  But he cooled in the 2nd half.  He had 26 at halftime but only 31 after 3, ending with 36.  A 10 point 2nd half didn't help the capital 'M' Magic offset the small 'm' magic of Jaylen Brown.

JB had 11 points at the half.  He had 14 after 3, a 6 point quarter, but had 17 on 7-9, 2-2 from 3, in the 4th.  He also had 2 assists in the 4th.  They couldn't stop him.  His two 3s were momentum changers, as the Magic were able to creep to within 6 with 9 1/2 left.  Then Sam scored with a Jaylen assist and Jaylen hit a 3 and it was back up to 11.  When one player scores more than half your team's points in the 4th quarter he's often either a ball hog or "a sparkplug".  Last night JB was definitely in the sparkplug category.  Both teams were struggling to find any scoring rhythm in the 4th.  One player wasn't and that player was Jaylen Marselles Brown.  The only Celtics with more 3pt fgm than Jaylen are Jayson Tatum and Paul Pierce.




Boston Celtics @celtics
yesterday
Jaylen Brown says of his and the team’s defensive intensity: “All of our guys are striving to be All-Defensive guys, and I want to be the head of that snake.”


I still miss Marcus Smart, I will always miss Marcus Smart, but when I remember that trading him got us Kristaps Porzingis I'm feeling better.  He lets our team do things we couldn't do last year.  That highlight GYSO posted above, of him rolling off his pick and slamming Jrue's miss with 3 Magic players trying to stop him is what I'm talking about.  With all due respect to RWill's springiness he doesn't have the muscle and weight to do that, not to mention the fact that Z has played in 19 games out of 25 and The Time Lord hasn't spent a minute of time on the court this season and it becomes a no-brainer.  Z is currently 13th in the league in blocked shots/game.

Not to mention the fact that we were able to give up RWill because we got Z allowed us to get Jrue.  He has accepted that he doesn't need to do as much on this team as he had to do on the Bucks but he is doing a little bit of everything.  We've seen him defend much bigger players regularly.  Is he Marcus Smart?  Well, he's shooting 39.4% from 3.  Marcus is shooting 29.5%.  Considering how Joe loves to have our guards bomb away I think it's hard to underestimate the value of adding a guard that is shooting 100 percentage points (or whatever you would call the difference between .39 and .29) better.  Jrue is also 36th in the league in blocked shots/game.  Which is really good for a guard, I think there are only two guards are ahead of him:  Scotty Barnes and

Derrick White is 30th in blocked shots/game.  He just does everything well.   It's electrifiying to see players like the Js or Banchero show off their offensive talent but it is also rewarding, to me, to see a fundamentally sound player always being in the right place at the right time and making the right decisions.  It makes me appreciate the game more and not just the talent of the players in the game.

How the Hell does little Payton Pritchard get 6 rebounds, 2 offensive?!  You gotta love his feistiness.








20-5 and 14-0 @ home.  That's a really impressive start for a team with 2 new starters and the loss of the NBA's 6th Man.  Now it starts getting harder.  20-5 and 14-0 at home means that we've only played 6 away games and lost 5 of them.  A winning road record is what you need to go deep into the playoffs but 6-5 will still dilute your playoff seeding if you're playing perfect ball at home.


Bob


.

I know Franz Wagner is a talented player, but, after that Thanksgiving game, he let his mouth roar, and at the time I said "be careful what you say, you are waking up a sleeping giant". These last two games, the Celtics made sure he was doubled or caught in situations where he did not know what to do with the ball. Banchero is a real stud, Suggs is a terrific shooter. This team is very young and needs to add some more to be a force. On any given night, though, they can be a problem. Now, let's show we can do this on the road, and beat the hell out of GSW. I am tired of all of them out there, and Kerr is wearing on me. He is a great coach but lately he has become a whiner. No Dramond, I don't know if I am glad or wish he was there so we could beat him on his own floor

worcester wrote:I, for one, will not resent Jaylen if he starts complaining that he is not being paid enough.

He looks first team all NBA to me

Bob, we are 6-5 on the road. Not stellar, but not a disaster. Certainly we need to improve our away game. Time to sleep at Hampton Inns for the waffles?

I love listening to this guy absolutely lose it as he points out defensive mistakes by teams.  His analysis is good, but watching his frustration level go through the roof is the real joy.





Bob


.

who is this guy???? from Orlando?? Love it, can you imagine what he would have said about the Celtics in those three loses to Miami last year before they decided to start to play until game 7

Loved the effort. They are much more focused this year. Last year they might have let Orlando hang around and sometimes even blow the game. This year there is no messing around they seem to put down the hammer.

I like Queta, that play when he dove on the floor to get a loose ball spurred a rally. I don't see why he can't play an effective 5-10 minutes a game.

Agree something has clicked with Jaylen, he's playing at another level right now.

Celtics17 wrote:
Agree something has clicked with Jaylen, he's playing at another level right now.

Speculation on my part...

He's spent some of his new contract money. Therefore his wallet is lighter and he can elevate better for shots and rebounds. Makes him lighter and quicker too.

HaHa you might be right, I saw a picture of a beautiful house in Wellesley, MA that he supposedly bought, then I listen to Porzingas say that he and Jaylen live in the same building in the Seaport and ride together to games and planes alot. Now that is some pretty hefty real estate

NYCelt wrote:

Celtics17 wrote:
Agree something has clicked with Jaylen, he's playing at another level right now.

Speculation on my part...

He's spent some of his new contract money. Therefore his wallet is lighter and he can elevate better for shots and rebounds. Makes him lighter and quicker too.

I thought his new money kicks in next season?