Orlando Magic Grades: Orlando Magic 119, Boston Celtics 114
The Orlando Magic got surprisingly explosive contributions from its two youngest players as it defeated the Boston Celtics.
18. Final. 119. 38. 114
The Orlando Magic got revenge on the Boston Celtics, and it came through some complementary players stepping up to fill bigger roles.
We got a glimpse, a full game glimpse at that, of just how good Mario Hezonja and Aaron Gordon can be. The youngsters played with high energy and both had what were likely their best games of the 2016 season as both set career highs in points.
Even with Elfrid Payton playing just 15 minutes due to foul trouble, the Magic kept their offense crisp, finishing the night with 27 assists on 44 made field goals.
The Magic most importantly were smart on the defensive end, allowing the Celtics to take the tough threes they seemed to prefer while knowing they could not keep falling at the early rate all night.
AARON GORDON. A. <p>This was likely Aaron Gordon’s best game as a pro. He had career-high-tying 19 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, and his play was almost entirely devoid of the silly mistakes that typically mar his performances.</p><p>He scored Orlando’s first bucket of the game on a 15-foot jumper, but he was just getting going. Gordon connected on 8 of 11 from the field, and he found a variety of ways to get good looks.</p><p>It was also Gordon who sparked the comeback in the third quarter, after he hit a long two over <strong><a href=. F.
A. <p>Mario Hezonja really bailed the Magic out in this game. With Elfrid Payton battling foul trouble and the Magic needing some shooting, Hezonja came through.</p><p>He hit 7 of 13 from the field and had 12 points in the first half. He checked in at the 3:46 mark of the first quarter after Payton picked up his second personal foul, and Hezonja took little time to get it going, hitting a deep three from the top of the arc and a 15-footer before the first period elapsed.</p><p>Hezonja also finished +20 for the game, easily better than any other Magic player, and fully illustrative of how well things were clicking with he and <strong><a href=. G/F. Orlando Magic. MARIO HEZONJA
A-. <p>So there are three Magic men earning A’s in this one, and yes that kind of skirts the issue of the Magic’s main cogs not coming up big in this one. But does it really matter?</p><p>Evan Fournier had an ultra efficient night, hitting six for eight from the floor, four for five from 3-point range, and 8 of 11 from the stripe to finish with 24 points in 23 minutes. Any time a player can finish with more points than minutes, it means the buckets are coming pretty easy (maybe that is too obvious to state).</p><p>But Fournier’s play was not perfect, as he committed four turnovers and easily could have had a couple more if not for quick recovery. With Payton sitting so much in this one, Fournier was forced to play a lot of point guard, and that is not a great proposition with Boston’s trio of guards all capable of forcing turnovers.</p><p>But Fournier is not a point guard and he did a decent job of pretending to be one. So, it is hard to penalize him too much for <strong><a href=. G/F. Orlando Magic. EVAN FOURNIER
6th East. BOSTON CELTICS. C-. <p>This was not one of the Boston Celtics’ finer games, despite one half of very solid basketball.</p><p>“Live by the three, die by the three” is a saying we are all very well aware of, and Boston happened to die by the three in this one. The Celtics attempted 46 3-pointers in this game, but it seemed a lot of those looks could have been worked for far better shots.</p><p>The Celtics assisted just 17 of 39 field goals, and they were outscored in the paint 46-32, after having a commanding edge in that category in the matchup on Friday night. The Celtics also were out rebounded 50-41 in the game, showing the dominance Aaron Gordon and <strong><a href=. 27-22