Boston gave up 38 and 39 in the first and fourth quarters, respectively. The Magic beat the Celtics 123-110, handing the Celtics their first NBA Cup defeat. Jaylen Brown scored 32 points on 15-for-28 shooting but went 1-for-6 from three, and teammates Sam Hauser and Derrick White struggled from deep. The Magic made 17 three-pointers, finishing 17-for-36 (47.2 percent). Most of Boston's offense came inside the arc, making comebacks difficult when outside shooting faltered. The Celtics' centers and defense were insufficient, with Neemias Queta the only starter finishing with a positive plus-minus.
"Brown has mastered the art of getting his shoulders around a defender and carving out space where he wants to go. His much-maligned handle looks elite. His finishing has been pin-point precise. He's barely hitting the rim when he shoots from mid-range. His third-quarter run on Friday was some true All-NBA-quality basketball - not for the first time this year, and not the kind of All-NBA run where you need a couple of injuries to make the third team."
"Brown was great - 32 points on 15-for-28 shooting - but he was 1-for-6 from three. That's not a problem by itself, but even a player with Brown's punishing offseason workout schedule wears down eventually, and when he got tired or stuck on Friday, his 3-point shooting couldn't bail the Celtics out. Neither could Sam Hauser (1-for-5) or Derrick White (1-for-6), and while Anfernee Simons finished 3-for-6, he couldn't find the range until the fourth quarter."
"Meanwhile, the Magic looked a little like last year's Celtics - they made 17 3-pointers, finishing 17-for-36 (47.2 percent) from deep. While Brown tried to lead a comeback inside the arc, the Magic staved them off from outside it. That, unfortunately for the Celtics, is a winning formula that Joe Mazzulla has employed often, but which got reversed on Friday."
Read at Boston.com
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