The Boston Celtics, playing without Jayson Tatum, squandered a 15-point halftime lead and fell 108-104 to the Orlando Magic on Monday night. The loss snapped Boston’s three-game winning streak and marked their final road game of 2024.
Jaylen Brown stepped up in Tatum’s absence, leading all scorers with 35 points on 15-of-29 shooting, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Celtics’ second-half collapse. Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White added 17 points each, but Boston’s typically potent three-point attack faltered, shooting just 8-for-33 from beyond the arc.
Orlando, missing Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, rallied behind Tristan da Silva’s clutch shooting. Da Silva scored 18 points, including a decisive three-pointer with 9.9 seconds left to seal the win. Trevelin Queen, in his first NBA start, contributed 17 points, while Jalen Suggs added 16 for the Magic.
The Celtics dominated the first half, taking a 58-43 lead into the break, but the Magic stormed back in the third quarter, outscoring Boston 33-18 to tie the game. By the fourth, Orlando had built a 10-point advantage. Brown’s layup with 59.6 seconds remaining cut the deficit to one, but Al Horford missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer on the next possession.
Da Silva capitalized on Boston’s missed opportunity, sinking his fourth three-pointer of the game to give Orlando a four-point cushion. The Celtics couldn’t recover in the final seconds.
Magic center Goga Bitadze was ejected late in the fourth quarter after stepping into an altercation involving Jalen Suggs and Porzingis, both of whom received technical fouls.
Despite the disruption, Orlando’s bench players, including Cole Anthony and Wendell Carter Jr., made critical contributions to secure the victory.
Boston, the defending NBA champions, now holds a 22-7 record. Their three-point struggles and lack of offensive depth without Tatum proved costly. Orlando improved to 19-12, showing resilience for a second straight game without several key players.
