Magic Outlast Celtics Late to Win Game 3; Boston Leads Series 2-1

ORLANDO, Fla. – With the score knotted at 91-all and 2:31 left to play, Franz Wagner went on to score the Orlando Magic's next – and final – four points.

Yet, his most impactful shot of the night might've been a miss.

As Boston opted to not foul down two and play for a stop, Wagner's late-clock three missed. But a long rebound meant the Boston Celtics had to spend extra time corralling the long board.

By the time they finally did, Boston had just 0.3 seconds for a game-tying or game-winning shot attempt. Derrick White's lob pass hit the rim, it careened away. With it, the Magic secured a 95-93 Game 3 victory Friday night – their first win of the series.

Wagner's 32 points led the Magic's scoring effort while managing the defensive assignment of Boston's top options.

Asked to describe his teammate's performance in the win, Paolo Banchero (29 points) called it "really gutsy. He was locked in from start to finish on both sides of the ball. He was just being ultra-aggressive on both sides of the floor."

Orlando's star duo combined for 61 points, marking the third straight game of 20-plus points for each of them. They joined Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway (two times) as the only sets of Magic teammates to have such a streak in the team's playoff history.

Wendell Carter Jr. scored all 10 of his points in the second half on his way to a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double.

A returning Jayson Tatum, who missed Game 2 because of a bone bruise in his right wrist, torched Orlando for a game-high 36 points.

But, it wasn't enough for the No. 2-seed Celtics to win their first game in the Kia Center since October 2022. Because of it, the Magic have a chance to even the first-round, best-of-seven playoff series at 2-all Sunday night.

Because of Milwaukee's win over Indiana, Game 5 of the series will now tip off at 8:30 p.m. from TD Garden.

Here's what else stood out about the Magic's crucial Game 3 victory.

Magic defense steps up

Boston's offense, which was scoring 120.5 points per 100 possessions through two games, met a much stiffer challenge from Orlando's defense in Game 3.

The Magic forced 21 Celtic turnovers – the most in a game this season for the defending champions – and converted them to 26 points.

And, Boston's historic three-point shooting was limited to just 27 attempts from distance, its fewest attempts in a game this season.

"We switched a ton," Wagner said. "They've got really good shooters. Get them off the line and then I thought, especially in the second half, we did a better job rebounding the ball."

Outside of Tatum, Orlando did well to minimize the impact of his supporting cast. Jaylen Brown totaled 19 points and Derrick White had 16, but no one else finished in double figures.

The Magic bench outscored Boston's, which was short a player due to Jrue Holiday's injury absence, 18-9.

Role reversal

Not dissimilar to Games 1 and 2, the Magic brought the fight to the Celtics early – this time with the backing of a packed Kia Center. With the help of reserve guard Anthony Black's two-way play, Orlando withstood an early Boston burst and led after the first quarter for the first time in the series.

Shortly into the second quarter, though, Black was whistled for his third personal foul after a Magic challenge intended to overturn an out-of-bounds call instead assessed a proximity foul on the Orlando guard.

The Celtics closed the half on a 28-14 stretch from that point, which included a 14-0 run that spanned over five minutes right before the halftime buzzer.

"I thought we didn't start the first half great and ended it pretty bad, too," Wagner said postgame.

But after the Magic struggled mightily out of half in the third quarters of the series' first two games and were a total minus-19, they flipped the script in Game 3.

Orlando opened the third on a 16-3 run to retake the lead, then outscored Boston 24-11 in the frame.

"We showed a lot of poise in that third to hold a really good team to 11 points," Wagner continued.

"It was about digging in and understanding where we were and how we needed to play," Mosley said. "We came out and moved the basketball, attacked the rim, sta down and got stops, forced them into some tough twos, but we were able to turn them over as well. That was a big key in the game."

Leading 73-70 heading into the final quarter, the Magic needed every bit of that three-point cushion in a neck-and-neck fourth quarter, earning a crucial victory down the stretch.

"We knew coming back down 0-2, we were going to have to do whatever we could to get this game and give ourselves a chance to tie it up 2-2," Banchero said. "We didn't allow some of the runs and some of the plays that they made affect us. We just kept playing and got the win.

"Toward the end we made enough plays, defensively and offensively, to keep them at arm's length and be able to hold them off."

Up Next

Orlando hosts Boston in Game 4 on Sunday, April 27, at 7 p.m. on TNT.

To see the full series schedule, click here.

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