Magic Cruise Past NBA-Leading Celtics 117-109

Date: 17 December 2022 - 21:52

News ID: ۱۱۰۲۵۳

BOSTON (AP) — Moritz Wagner scored 25 points and Paolo Banchero added 20 as the Orlando Magic beat the NBA-leading Boston Celtics 117-109 on Friday night.
Franz Wagner scored 19 points as Orlando won its fifth straight game — the first four coming at home. The Magic outrebounded the Celtics 53-38 and held the lead for the final 37 minutes of the game.
Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and Jaylen Brown 26 as Boston (22-8) lost for the third time in four games. The Celtics attempted 46 3-pointers and made 11.
“We had good looks. Even when they’re not going in, you have to keep moving the ball and shooting it,” Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Boston’s Robert Williams played in his first game since the NBA Finals after undergoing surgery on his left knee during the preseason and finished with nine points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.
Helped by two 3-pointers in the opening minutes from Al Horford, the Celtics jumped out to a 14-5 lead against a team with the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference. The Magic surged back, closing the opening quarter with a 15-4 run that was capped with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Banchero.
Orlando kept the pressure on Boston, leading 62-54 at halftime and extending the lead to 19 points early in the third quarter. The Celtics cut their deficit to single digits on a few occasions, but the Magic remained comfortably ahead.
Markelle Fultz scored five straight, including jumper that gave the Magic a 108-96 lead with 3:55 remaining. Fultz had 12 points and four assists before fouling out.
Williams’ surgery in the offseason was his second procedure on the same knee in a six-month span. The 25-year-old was upgraded to questionable on Thursday, with Mazzulla confirming before Friday’s game that “there isn’t a minutes restriction” concerning Williams, who came off the bench against the Magic.