The Orlando Magic got routed in another embarrassing game as the Boston Celtics took it to the Magic in the first of a three-game road trip.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Magic | 24 | 24 | 17 | 33 | 98 |
| Celtics | 39 | 29 | 36 | 24 | 128 |
It did not take long for the Boston Celtics to get going.
The Celtics have been an offensive juggernaut for much of the season with Isaiah Thomas leading a pick and roll assault on unsuspecting defenses. Stopping and containing him is the start to any success with the Celtics.
That did not matter. Not with the ease Boston scored again and again and again throughout the first quarter.
Boston missed just six shots in a 39-point first quarter, attacking the paint and butchering Orlando’s defense on the pick and roll. Then they worked the ball out of the paint to the perimeter for 3-point shots. Their confidence was at an all-time high and it made things easy for them over and over in a 128-98 win over the Magic at TD Garden on Friday.
Boston made 56.2 percent of its shots overall, hit on 16 of 34 3-pointers and dished out 39 assists. Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 20 points. Isaiah Thomas had 21 points in just 24 minutes. The Celtics just eviscerated the Magic.
Orlando kept pace only for a few minutes in the first quarter. Nikola Vucevic was especially active early. But slowly that offense faded away. As the bench and reserves came in, the energy went away and the team could not get the ball moving again.
The Magic offense ground to a complete halt. They were unable to regain the momentum, what little they had, from the first quarter. The game felt over before the end of the first quarter. There was no run to get back into the game or push for the lead.
Boston just kept coming at them again and again. Even out of the locker room, the Celtics hung a 7-0 run to start the third quarter and stretch the lead to 27 points. The team was dispirited and demoralized.
Add embarrassed over another 30-point loss.