Celtics knock out Magic in Game 5 blowout, advance to East semifinals

Zack Cox, Boston Herald on Apr 29, 2025

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BOSTON — A slobber-knocker of a first-round playoff series ended with a one-sided steamrolling Tuesday night at TD Garden.

The Celtics routed the Magic, 120-89, in Game 5 to eliminate Orlando and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they’ll face either the New York Knicks or the Detroit Pistons.

Jayson Tatum was terrific again for Boston, turning in his third straight 30-point performance since returning from the wrist injury he suffered in Game 1. He finished with a game-high 35 points on 10-of-16 shooting with 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Jaylen Brown added 23 points, six rebounds and three assists, and the bench trio of Payton Pritchard (10 points), Sam Hauser (10) and Luke Kornet (nine) combined for 29 points while going 11 for 15 from 3.

The game’s turning point came when Magic star Paolo Banchero picked up his fifth foul early in the third quarter. The Celtics outscored Orlando by 31 points from that point forward to close out the gentleman’s sweep.

Banchero’s exit also coincided with the delayed arrival of Boston’s record-setting 3-point attack, which was uncharacteristically silent before halftime. The Celtics went 0 for 6 from beyond the arc in the first half but 13 for 18 over the final two quarters, with Tatum hitting four of his five second-half 3s.

The Celtics fell behind by nine during a sloppy, mistake-filled first quarter. Orlando scored nine points off six Boston turnovers and seven points off three offensive rebounds, outplaying the Celtics in the all-important “margin” areas that Mazzulla emphasized after his team’s loss in Game 3. Brown committed two of those early turnovers while also struggling to find his shooting touch amid a 1-for-5 start from the field.

Tatum gave the Celtics the spark they needed late in the first. With Boston down 24-15, he ripped off an 8-0 run by himself, scoring on back-to-back possessions and then drawing fouls on his next two touches.

After Orlando responded with its own 8-0 run that stretched into the second quarter, Boston spent the next seven minutes chipping away at that lead — while playing a decidedly old-school and un-Celtic-like brand of basketball. Relying almost exclusively on shots in the paint and free throws, the Celtics took a 43-41 lead with 2:36 remaining in the first half.

Derrick White banked in an and-1 fadeaway against Cole Anthony. Tatum picked Banchero’s pocket and fed Brown for a fast-break dunk. Tatum tied the game with a driving layup, and Brown put the Celtics ahead with a foul-line jumper. The Celtics also forced two 24-second shot-clock violations during that rally.

Nearly every Boston make in the second quarter came within 12 feet of the basket, save for one foot-on-the-line 2 by Al Horford. The Celtics attempted just six total 3-pointers before halftime — and none in the final 7:30 — and missed all of them. It was the first time since October 2021 — a year before Mazzulla became their head coach — that the Celtics went an entire first half without a made 3.

But despite that goose egg — and their nine first-half turnovers, several of which came on botched lobs and entry passes to Kornet — the Celtics entered halftime trailing by just two points, 49-47.

The second half then began with a nightmare sequence for the Magic. Banchero, an ascending superstar who scored at least 29 points in Games 1 through 4, was whistled for three fouls in the first 2:14 of the third quarter — a drawn charge by White followed by two shooting fouls against Brown. Those gave Bachero five fouls for the game with more than 20 minutes remaining, and Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley burned his challenge trying to overturn the fifth.

With Banchero on the bench, the Magic collapsed. Tied at 53-53 at the time of his exit, Boston proceeded to outscore Orlando 30-9 over the final 10 minutes of the third quarter to bust the game open.

Around the midway point of the third, the Celtics morphed back into the 3-point juggernaut they were throughout the regular season and buried their short-handed foes. They drilled seven consecutive triples — Tatum, Hauser, Horford, Tatum, Pritchard, Pritchard, Brown — as their lead reached 20 points, then 25, then 32.

Banchero returned to play most of the fourth quarter, but by that point, it was too late for Orlando to stage any legitimate comeback bid.