April 23, 2025 / 10:12 PM EDT / AP
By KYLE HIGHTOWER , AP Sports Writer
Jaylen Brown had 36 points and 10 rebounds, Kristaps Porzingis returned to the game after getting a bloody gash to the forehead and finished with 20 points, and the Boston Celtics beat the Orlando Magic 109-100 in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series on Wednesday night.
Boston took a 2-0 series lead while playing without All-Star Jayson Tatum, who has a bone bruise in his right wrist and missed a playoff game for the first time in his career.
Boston led by 15 points in the second half, then held off a late push by Orlando. The Celtics hit 12 3-pointers and went 25 of 33 from the free-throw line. Derrick White and Brown had 17 of Boston’s 28 points in the final period; White finished with 17.
Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 32 points and nine rebounds. Franz Wagner scored 25 points.
Game 3 is Friday night at Orlando.
Tatum had not missed a playoff game in his eight seasons with Boston. He injured his wrist in Game 1 after landing awkwardly following a flagrant foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Clad in street clothes, he joined his team prior to tipoff and sat at the end of the bench.
Boston coach Joe Mazzulla characterized Tatum’s status as day to day.
Caldwell-Pope was booed nearly every time he touched the ball in the aftermath of his Game 1 foul on Tatum, which the Celtics’ Al Horford later characterized as excessive.
Tempers flared between Caldwell-Pope and Horford when their feet got tangled up and and sent both crashing to the floor at the 4:42 mark of the second quarter.
Brown then exchanged words with Caldwell-Pope. Referees reviewed the the play and determined it was a common tripping foul on Caldwell-Pope.
Then, late in the third quarter, Porzingis went to the locker room with a gash to his forehead but returned in time to shoot a pair of free throws after taking an elbow from Goga Bitadze. The play was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant foul on Bitadze.
During the review, Porzingis emerged to a loud ovation, with dried blood streaking down the back of his head and a bandage on the center of his forehead. He re-entered the game and connected on one of his two free throws before exiting again.
Porzingis returned to the bench area midway through the period and came back into the game with 7:15 left.
Mazzulla opted to go with a bigger frontcourt without Tatum, starting Horford alongside Porzingis.
The Celtics led just 23-21 at the end of the first quarter after going only 5 of 19 from the field. Boston began the second period with a 14-5 run with Brown on the bench to build a 37-26 cushion and led 50-47 at halftime.
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