Things looked bleak for the Boston Celtics when they took on the Orlando Magic on Friday, December 15.
Facing a team that had owned them over the last two years, the Celtics entered the game without their top three centers. Al Horford was held out for rest, Kristaps Porzingis experienced calf tightness, and Luke Kornet had left adductor tightness.
Despite the huge hole in the middle, the Celtics pulled away for a 128-111 victory. Without their bigs, Boston changed its style of play, prompting star Jaylen Brown to offer some words of advice to head coach Joe Mazzulla and his staff.
Before the game, Brown was listed as questionable with right knee hyperextension, but he suited up and was a force from the start. He finished with 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting, but he played with a purpose. On one series, he had a thunderous dunk and then sprinted back and blocked a shot at the other end.
With no true big men on the court, the Celtics played small ball. They shot poorly early, missing their first eight 3-point shots, but they ran their way to a 64-51 halftime lead.
After the game, Brown said that run-and-gun style of play is what he’s been preaching to Mazzulla and the coaching staff all season long.
We had all guards, all smalls out there so our advantage was speed,” Brown said, per Jay King of The Athletic. “And that’s how I want to play all the time.
Like, let’s run on a made basket, on a missed basket. That’s what I’ve been trying to emphasize for our coaching staff and everybody all year.”
With the win, the Celtics remained undefeated at home at 13-0. They own the best record in the NBA at 19-5, with one of those losses suffered at the hands of the Magic during the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.
The Magic had won four of the previous five meetings against the Celtics, but Boston got a strong all-around effort from its bench, and Brown called the victory the biggest win of the season for Boston to date.
“This is the biggest game of the year so far in my opinion,” Brown said postgame. “I think, one, we got a bunch of guys out in a back-to-back against a team that’s been kicking our ass the last four or five times we’ve played. I think this is the biggest game, to me, so far.”
The Celtics got a great performance from their bench, led by Payton Pritchard’s 21 points. Sam Hauser and Oshae Brissett each finished with 11.
Brown said he was pleased with the way the Celtics withstood Orlando’s early punches and Boston’s first-half shooting woes.
We took those punches, and we kept throwing punches back,” he said. “That’s what we want to instill in our guys. We fight, We make it hard for you, and we play the game the right way.”
The Celtics can’t get too excited about the victory because they are right back at it against that same Magic team on Sunday at home.
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