Three Studs, Two Duds From Celtics’ Short-Handed Loss Vs. Magic

The Boston Celtics continued their road trip with a 108-104 loss to the Orlando Magic in Monday’s night battle at Kia Center.

Boston fell to 22-7 while Orlando improved to 19-12.

Monday’s matchup truly marked a tale of two halves. The Celtics started hot in the Sunshine State and cruised to a 15-point halftime advantage over an even more short-handed Magic squad.

Something surely changed in the second half when the Magic came out firing, got hot from the perimeter and flew past the Celtics. Orlando won the second half 65-46 on the way to a four-point win.

Here are three studs and two duds from the Celtics’ loss.

STUDS
Jaylen Brown
Brown came rolling out of the gates Monday night for the Celtics. The reigning NBA Finals MVP tallied 15 quick points against the Magic in the first quarter. He also nearly brought Boston back and drained a key bucket that cut the deficit to one in the fourth quarter.

Brown led the way in scoring for the Celtics with 35 points to elevate the offense with Jayson Tatum out with an illness.

Monday marked Brown’s fourth 30-point game of the season.

Jrue Holiday
White turned in a solid effort that would have looked better without his five turnovers. Holiday made impact plays in the fourth quarter and turned in 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

Kristaps Porzingis
The Celtics big man got to the line consistently in Orlando, draining 13 of his 14 free-throw attempts Monday night. That partially made up for a poor shooting night from the field where Porzingis went just 2-for-10 and missed all four three-point attempts.

DUDS
Boston’s three-point shooting
Both teams combined to shoot under 20% from beyond the arc for most of the first half. The Celtics particularly struggled with perimeter shooting on an 8-for-32 night.

Sam Hauser
Boston’s sharp shooter played 16 minutes Monday night and did not attempt a shot and committed three fouls.