Jaylen Brown delivers dominant performance to lead Celtics to sweep of Magic
Jaylen Brown believes he’s playing some of the best basketball of his career, and he’s continuing to back it up.
The Celtics star may have gotten off to a slow start to this season as he acclimated to some new teammates. He may have been mocked by a social media post from ESPN that suggested he was playing selfish basketball. His overall numbers may be down, but his growth on both sides of the ball has been apparent – and even more so this week.
Brown finished off his best week of the season in a big way on Sunday afternoon. He scored 31 points, which included five 3-pointers, added six assists as he continued to develop as a dangerous facilitator and was locked in defensively again. His dominant performance led the way for the Celtics as they ran away from the Magic with a 114-97 victory, which capped another perfect homestand at TD Garden.
Jayson Tatum added 23 points and Kristaps Porzingis had 15 in his return from a one-game absence as the Celtics improved to 14-0 at home. They overcame young Magic star Paolo Banchero, who scored 36 points, with strong defense and finally put away the visitors in the fourth quarter to complete another two-game series sweep.
The Celtics were in control for most of the afternoon but the Magic hung around before Brown took over in the final period. He scored 15 points and added a pair of assists inside the first six minutes of the fourth. He hit back-to-back shots – first a long corner jumper before drilling a heat-check 3-pointer that put the Celtics up 17 midway through the quarter, and they never looked back.
The Celtics, like in Friday’s matchup, were punched first in the opening quarter. Banchero, who scored 19 points in the period, led the Magic to an early 10-point lead. The Celtics were a bit slow and seemed to be frustrated by a lack of foul calls in the early going. Tatum was whistled for a delay of game call after scoring a layup, seemingly upset that a foul wasn’t called.
But the C’s once again clawed their way back. They had an 8-0 edge in second-chance points and despite Banchero’s dominance, his Magic teammates weren’t much of help. Payton Pritchard’s second-chance 3-pointer gave the Celtics their first lead at 34-33 early in the second quarter.
About a minute later, Tatum was called for his third personal foul after an overturned challenge ruled that he committed an offensive foul with 8:07 remaining in the second. But the Celtics flourished without their superstar, mostly thanks to Brown. After a slow start, Brown woke up and carried the Celtics for the rest of the half. The game was tied at 41 after Banchero’s turnaround jumper when Brown ignited a 20-5 Celtics run that put them in control. He accounted for all of Boston’s points – seven points, two assists – during its initial 12-2 burst.
Without Tatum over the final 8:07, the Celtics outscored the Magic 24-16 and outscored them 34-19 in the second quarter to take a 61-50 halftime lead.