Tristan da Silva has given the Orlando Magic another surprising victory. The German rookie drained the deciding shot in the dying minutes against the Boston Celtics to give the Magic a 108-104 win over the reigning champions.
The Magic went almost 2:30 minutes without scoring in the final period, with the Celtics cutting the deficit to 104:105 with an 8:0 run, but Al Horford missed an opportunity to put the Celtics ahead with 30 seconds left on the clock, and the Magic punished him for it. After good ball rotation, the ball found its way to Tristan da Silva in the corner and the rookie drained his fourth three of the evening.
With 18 points (6/11 FG, 4/8 three-pointers, 3 rebounds), da Silva was also the Magic’s top scorer, with all ten players used recording at least two field goals. Orlando was missing four rotation players – the Wagner brothers, Paolo Banchero and Gary Harris – but the Magic once again rose to the occasion as a team.
Boston couldn’t come up with many ideas after the break
Boston led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but after the break, the reigning champions, who had to do without Jayson Tatum, who was ill, were no longer able to do much. The Celtics only made 24 percent of their three-pointers and also took only 33 shots from outside, which was a season low for the team. Jaylen Brown (35, 15/29 FG, 9 rebounds) was the top scorer, while Kristaps Porzingis (17, 2/10 FG, 13/14 FT) made almost all of his points from the foul line.
For the Magic, Cole Anthony (10) and Wendell Carter Jr. (11, 7 rebounds) delivered important minutes off the bench, cementing Orlando (19-12) in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics (22-7), on the other hand, remain in second place, but are already 3.5 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers (26-4).
Orlando is not in action again until Thursday night, when the Miami Heat are guests again. The Magic only beat them 121-114 at the same venue two days ago. Meanwhile, Boston is hosting the Philadelphia 76ers in the Christmas Games at home.
