The Boston Celtics dominated the Orlando Magic 132-96 at Amway Center on Wednesday, and former UCF center Tacko Fall added a clip to the highlight reel late in the game.
The Magic came into Wednesday night’s game with the return of head coach Steve Clifford, who missed the previous six games due to testing positive for COVID-19. The team went 3-3 in his absence while under assistant coach Tyrone Corbin.
Two stolen balls after consecutive possessions, along with an injury to guard Cole Anthony before the 9:35 mark of the first quarter were a good indication for how the night was going to turn out.
The Magic never held the lead during a game where the Celtics jumped out to a double-digit lead by the 8:50 mark of the first quarter.
Clifford said he believes turning the ball over against the No. 7 ranked team in the NBA in points off turnovers determined the outcome of the game from the beginning.
“We had eight first-quarter turnovers and that led to thirteen points,” Clifford said. “That really set the tone for the whole game.”
Forward Moritz Wagner said playing against a team that is in the playoff hunt, currently ranked No. 7 in the Eastern Conference, made it a hard task for the Magic. He finished the game with a team-high 20 points, four rebounds, and two steals in just under 26 minutes of play.
“When you’re playing against a team that’s playing for something, you got to get into the game very serious and be locked in,” Wagner said. “We threw it away too much and that kind of set the tone for the rest.”
While the Magic were able to trim their deficit to single digits for brief periods in the second and third quarters, an overreliance on shooting three-pointers made it impossible to gain any traction — the team went 6-of-25 from beyond the arc.
The Celtics, on the other hand, made 21-of-45 from beyond the arc for about 47% when shooting 3-pointers.
Former Magic guard Evan Fournier returned to Orlando for the first time since being traded to the Celtics earlier this season and scored 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists during the game. Fournier played seven seasons for the Magic prior to being traded to the Celtics.
Fournier recently struggled with the aftereffects of contracting COVID-19 and Clifford said that he is happy that his former forward is doing better health-wise — Clifford said he believes Fournier will be a big help when the playoffs come around.
“If they’re going to make a run for the playoffs, he’s going to be a huge part of it,” Clifford said. “Not tonight but against other teams, we’ll always be cheering for him.”
In the closing minutes of the fourth quarter — when the Celtics were up by 30 plus points — chants calling for Fall to take the court filled Amway Center.
The former Knights star and now Celtics center scored his first and only points in the game after a finger roll layup that had the Orlando crowd to jump to their feet and cheer in unison for the UCF alum.
The Magic finished the game with a deficit of 36 points and shot 33-of-85 on measly 38.8% from the paint, while the Celtics made 51-of-96 for 53.1%.
With the loss, the Magic will drop to 21-45 for the season with six games left in the regular season, while the Celtics improve to 35-31 on the season.
The Magic will travel to the Spectrum Center Friday to take on the Charlotte Hornets at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Florida.
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