A long-term injury to Neemias Queta could spell trouble for the Celtics.
But for at least one night, Boston didn’t need its No. 1 center.
The Celtics lost Queta, a standout in his first season as an NBA starter, to an ankle sprain midway through the first quarter Sunday but were able to secure a victory over the undermanned Magic, winning 138-129 at TD Garden.
It was a bounce-back performance for the 9-8 Celtics, whose home loss to the lowly Nets on Friday prompted Jaylen Brown to call out his team for its lack of effort and enthusiasm.
Energy wasn’t an issue against Orlando. Boston shot 60.2% from the field, made 45.5% of its threes, scored 48 points in the second quarter and led by 21 entering the fourth. The Celtics had to withstand a furious late-game rally by the Magic’s backups, however, who cut the deficit to six before the C’s pulled away late.
Boston will host the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons on Wednesday in an early 5 p.m. tipoff.
“It was a good win,” Brown said. “… Obviously, we’ve got to do a better job of (finishing), don’t let human nature kind of seep in. But I think the first three quarters, I thought we did a good job.”
Six Celtics scored in double figures in the win, led by Brown’s 35 points on 14-of-26 shooting. Anfernee Simons, Sam Hauser and Josh Minott combined for 53 points off the bench, making 10 of their 17 3-pointers. Payton Pritchard tallied 19 points, and he and Brown each dished out eight assists. Derrick White had 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.
The Celtics committed just five turnovers, tying their season low.
The Magic, who were on the second night of a back-to-back, played without starters Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs and Wendell Carter Jr., and backup center Goga Bitadze. Bitadze was set to start in Carter’s place, but he was scratched just before tipoff, forcing the Magic to plug in two-way player Orlando Robinson.
Facing a smaller Orlando team, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla prioritized athleticism over height after a midair collision with Magic guard Anthony Black ended Queta’s night. He bypassed usual second-string center Luka Garza and instead inserted 6-foot-8 Chris Boucher, who had played in just one of Boston’s previous seven games.
Boston also played 6-foot-8 Minott — whom Mazzulla benched against Brooklyn after a careless turnover — as a small-ball five for much of the game. Up big early in the fourth quarter, the Celtics went super-small, utilizing a lineup of five players (Pritchard, White, Brown, Hauser and Jordan Walsh) who all are listed at 6-foot-7 or shorter.
Garza was a healthy DNP for the first time this season. Reserve big man Xavier Tillman also did not see action in Queta’s absence.
The Celtics and Magic were tied when Queta walked gingerly toward the locker room with 6:09 to play in the first quarter. Fast forward to halftime, and Boston led by 23, having piled up an eye-popping 80 points on 64.6% shooting (52.9% from three).
How did they get there? It began with their bench. The first three Celtics possessions after Queta’s injury produced 3-pointers by Hauser (two) and Simons. Brown then went to work with a midrange jumper, a drawn foul and a driving layup (and a technical foul for arguing) before Simons closed the quarter with another three and a floater.
It was Simons’ second big game against the Magic this season. Boston’s third guard, who’s had to adjust to a sixth man role after starting for Portland the last three years, also scored 25 first-half points in a Nov. 9 win at Orlando. His 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting against Brooklyn also were a bright spot in Friday’s ugly loss.
“He’s playing his role really well,” Mazzulla said. “I think he’s giving us everything. … I think in the first few games, he was kind of easing into it. I think the last few weeks is kind of like, that’s what we need him to be, and so he’s done a great job of that, and just scoring in a bunch of different ways. So it’s good to see him do that.”
Hauser’s 4-for-7 showing from beyond the arc was a return to form for the scuffling Celtics’ mainstay, who’d made just seven of his previous 42 3-point attempts.
Up 32-27 after one, the Celtics exploded in a hyper-efficient second quarter. How efficient? Boston attempted 22 field goals in the period and made 18 of them. Five of those makes (on five shots) came from Minott, who hit two threes and threw down a pair of dunks off feeds from Pritchard and Brown.
“We got stops, got out and ran offensively,” Mazzulla said. “I thought Josh did some great things turning defense into offense. It was good to see Sam get going, as well, and I just thought we had some good possessions off turnovers and misses getting out in transition.”
After Minott’s second slam, Pritchard broke the game open by swiping two steals in 10 seconds and scoring off both — a fast-break layup and a corner three set up by a Hugo Gonzalez assist. Those five quick points put the Celtics up 66-49.
Pritchard controlled the final minute of the first half, as well. After White hit his first 3-pointer of the night, his backcourt partner notched a steal, an assist and two buckets in the last 57.3 seconds before halftime, capped by a midrange pull-up that made it 80-59. It was just the 10th time in franchise history that Boston scored 80 points in a first half.
The Celtics got through the third quarter without incident, but they had to hold off a relentless fourth-quarter comeback effort led by Orlando reserves Jett Howard (30 points) and Jase Richardson (18 points). Howard’s previous career high was 21 points. Richardson, the 25th overall pick in this year’s draft, scored six total NBA points before Sunday.
The Magic outscored the C’s 40-28 in the final 12 minutes, but Boston survived thanks to 13 fourth-quarter points from Brown, a last-minute Pritchard layup and late free throws by White.
“Second night of a back-to-back for them, they started to put some fresh legs out there — guys that are hungry and want to prove something and normally don’t play,” Simons said. “So they used that to their advantage, and we kind of had to adjust to maybe some players that weren’t on the scouting report and we didn’t necessarily prepare for. But they were hitting a lot of shots. We held steady through all of that and were able to come out with the win.”
