ORLANDO – Regardless of being 1,200 miles away from TD Backyard, Jayson Tatum heard acquainted chants as he stepped to the foul line late in Sunday’s playoff recreation.
“MVP. MVP. MVP.”
The Celtics star delivered a efficiency worthy of these cheers, racking up 37 factors, 14 rebounds, three assists and three steals as Boston defeated the Magic 107-98 on the Kia Heart to take a 3-1 lead in its best-of-seven first-round NBA playoff sequence.
Tatum performed your entire second half, and 16 of his factors got here within the fourth quarter, serving to the Celtics draw back after Orlando tied the sport with 4:18 remaining.
Co-star Jaylen Brown additionally notched a double-double with 21 factors and 11 rebounds, plus two steals, and Kristaps Porzingis bounced again after struggling in the Celtics’ Game 3 loss, ending with 19 factors and 5 rebounds regardless of foul hassle that restricted him to 22 minutes. Derrick White added 18 factors, seven assists and 7 rebounds, and Al Horford – beginning rather than an injured Jrue Vacation (hamstring) – blocked 5 pictures within the win, which pushed the seventh-seeded Magic to the brink of elimination.
Boston survived one more sturdy exhibiting from Magic headliners Paolo Banchero (31 factors) and Franz Wagner (24 factors), who each have topped 20 factors in all 4 video games on this sequence. Orlando additionally efficiently neutralized the Celtics’ record-setting 3-point capturing for many of the night time, holding them to 9-of-31 from deep. However Boston enormously improved its ball safety (10 turnovers) and rebounding (11-7 edge in offensive boards) after missing in each areas in Sport 3.
The No. 2 seed Celtics, who’re 20-2 in video games after a loss this season, can advance to the Japanese Convention semifinals with a win Tuesday night time in Boston.
Regardless of trying six 3-pointers within the opening 4 minutes, Boston’s first six made area targets got here within the paint. 5 of these had been at or close to the rim, together with three Porzingis dunks. That was a constructive growth for the Celtics, who wanted to get the big man more involved after he turned in considered one of his worst performances of the season Friday night time.
“I assumed he was nice for us,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned. “I assumed he set the tone for us in our half-court offense.”
Sam Hauser, who was held scoreless in every of the Celtics’ first three playoff video games whereas trying simply 4 whole pictures, launched two 3-pointers late within the first quarter and made each to assist the Celtics climb out of an early eight-point deficit. These had been the one six factors Boston’s bench scored within the recreation, however Hauser and Payton Pritchard had been a team-best plus-11 and plus-13, respectively.
The Celtics acquired extra contributions from each gamers early within the second. Porzingis fed a nifty give-and-go move to White for a troublesome and-one layup, drew one other foul on the following possession after which hit his first 3-pointer of the postseason, snapping an 0-for-11 drought from past the arc. He additionally deflected a Cole Anthony move within the Celtics’ finish, and Hauser dove on it to power a turnover.
With 5 minutes remaining within the first half, Porzingis had 13 factors, and the Celtics held a 46-38 lead. Then he was whistled for an offensive foul whereas setting a display screen for Tatum, and the Magic seized momentum.
Porzingis was assured he didn’t deserve the whistle, emphatically gesturing for Mazzulla to problem the foul. The officers disagreed. Boston misplaced its problem, Porzingis headed to the bench with three fouls and Orlando ripped off a 10-0 run that featured three Celtics turnovers to tie the sport.
Boston was in a position to regain its footing because of some well timed defensive performs by White. The Celtics guard denied Wendell Carter Jr. on the rim to foil a 4-on-1 Magic break, then poked the ball away from Banchero whereas the Magic star drove for a would-be layup.
“These had been the momentum performs, particularly on the street, particularly on the street,” Mazzulla mentioned. “… That play was big.”
Boston closed the half on a 7-0 run, capped by a Tatum 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds remaining, and took a 53-48 lead into the locker room.
The Celtics’ frustration with what they’ve seen as over-the-top physicality from Orlando boiled over early within the third quarter. After Carter dropped White with a hip verify on a quick break, Horford sprinted in to confront the Magic heart. Tatum and officers needed to separate the 2, and Carter’s play was reviewed for what would have been Orlando’s fourth flagrant foul of the sequence. Referee Mark Davis dominated it didn’t meet that standards, leaving it as a standard foul.
Porzingis sat for the primary 5:07 of the second half, with Luke Kornet changing him within the high unit. He hit a 3 and tallied a steal after returning, then was known as again to the bench after choosing up his fourth foul with 3:57 to play within the third quarter. He dedicated his fifth two minutes into the fourth.
Fouls had been a problem for Pritchard, too, who completed with zero factors for simply the third time this season. The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year was known as for free ball fouls after missed Magic pictures late within the first and third quarters, gifting Orlando 4 free throws. Anthony Black’s foul pictures within the ultimate minute of the third minimize Boston’s result in 79-75 getting into the ultimate quarter.
The Celtics had been in a position to keep that cushion for the primary seven minutes of the fourth, getting seven factors from Tatum, 5 from White and a strong block from Horford to maintain Orlando at bay. However the Magic finally equalized on a 3-pointer by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a Carter tip-in, tying the sport at 91-91.
That’s when Mazzulla reinserted Porzingis, and he instantly restored the Celtics’ lead, lacking a gimme on the rim however drawing a foul on his personal putback dunk. Free throws by Brown on the subsequent Boston possession made it 95-91.
Horford then was known as for a delay-of-game technical foul on an Orlando inbounds move – Mazzulla mentioned he stepped on the sideline – however the Celtics acquired a cease, and Tatum scored on their subsequent two journeys down the ground. He hit a fadeaway over Banchero, then took contact from his fellow Duke alum on an errant 3-pointer and made all three free throws.
Tatum, nonetheless taking part in with tape on his proper wrist after injuring it on a hard foul by Caldwell-Pope in Sport 1, made simply three of his 10 threes within the recreation, however he went 7-for-15 contained in the arc and an ideal 14-for-14 from the road. Brown made 9 of his 10 foul pictures.
“(That’s) simply poise,” Mazzulla mentioned. “Poise and having an understanding of your setting. Clearly some shot-making there, however on the identical time, bodily drives, attending to the free-throw line. On the finish of the day, each groups had been taking part in bodily. You’ve to have the ability to execute at each ends of the ground, and I assumed he did a terrific job of that.”
Yet one more Horford block and a clutch offensive rebound by Pritchard helped Boston end off its underdog hosts.
“There needs to be a separate stat sheet for guys like (Horford) due to the kind of stuff he does,” Mazzulla mentioned. “… He’s simply an unbelievable competitor and made all of the performs needed to assist us win.”
Tatum sank 4 extra foul pictures within the ultimate minute whereas the emptying crowd, which featured a large contingent of Celtics followers at each video games this weekend, cheered him on.
In NBA playoff historical past, groups that constructed a 3-1 lead went on to win the sequence 95.5% of the time (275-13). With No. 3 seed New York additionally up 3-1 after beating Detroit on a botched last-second foul name Sunday afternoon, the Celtics are trending towards their first postseason matchup with the Knicks since 2013 — and their first after the opening spherical since 1984.
It might be the primary playoff assembly between any Boston and New York groups for the reason that Crimson Sox and Yankees performed within the 2021 wild-card recreation.
“Tonight was an enormous win,” Brown mentioned.
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