Orlando Magic @ Boston Celtics
Tuesday, April 29, 2025 at 8:30 PM ET
TD Garden, Boston, MA | Game ID: 42400115
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
BOS 23 24 36 37 120ORL 27 22 13 27 89
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Defending champion Celtics close out Magic 120-89 for 4-1 playoff series win
BOSTON -- — When Magic star Paolo Banchero went to the bench with five fouls, the Boston Celtics pulled away and cruised into the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Jayson Tatum had 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and the Celtics abandoned their usual 3-point barrage to beat Orlando 120-89 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.
The defending NBA champions will play either the New York Knicks or Detroit Pistons in the second round. The Knicks lead their series 3-2 despite falling 106-103 earlier Tuesday in New York.
“You just have to find different ways,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, whose team set NBA records in the regular season for the most 3-point baskets but made none at all in the first half — a first in almost four years.
“That’s what this series called for. Every series calls for different things,” Mazzulla said. “You have to be able to win in different ways on both sides of the ball.”
Franz Wagner scored 25 points, Banchero had 19 and Wendell Carter Jr . had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who have not won a playoff series since Dwight Howard, Vince Carter and coach Stan Van Gundy led them to the Eastern Conference finals in 2010.
Boston fell behind by nine in the first half, and Orlando still led 51-47 early in the third quarter when Banchero picked up his fourth foul; just 79 seconds later, he picked up his fifth, a call that sent an apoplectic coach Jamahl Mosley to the officials, demanding a review.
The replay showed Banchero stepped into Jaylen Brown as he shot, and the Magic forward went to the bench, where he stayed for the rest of the quarter. In that time, Boston scored 31 of the next 40 points to open an 83-62 lead.
“It definitely swung the series. It definitely swung the game,” Mosley said. “All I saw is Paolo getting an elbow to the face or back into the face — and he got the foul. That was a game-changer right there. Your best player picks up his fifth foul in the third quarter. It’s tough to come back from that moment.”
Brown scored 23 points for Boston.
Tatum, who injured his wrist on a hard foul in Game 1 and missed Game 2, returned with three straight games of at least 35 points. He was 11 for 11 from the free-throw line — he has not missed a foul shot since Game 1 — and 10 for 16 from the field, making four of five 3-point attempts.
The Celtics attempted only six 3-pointers in the first half and made none. It was the first time they went into halftime without a 3 since 2021.
Tatum made their first 3-pointer early in the third quarter, but it would be another seven minutes before he made their second. During the regular season, they made one, on average, every 2 minutes, 42 seconds.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
BOSAH A. Horford
BS B. Scheierman
DW D. White
JB J. Brown
JD J. Davison
JT J. Tatum
KP K. Porziņģis
LK L. Kornet
NQ N. Queta
PP P. Pritchard
PO Porzingis
SH S. Hauser
TC T. Craig
WA Walsh
ORLAB A. Black
CA C. Anthony
CH C. Houstan
CJ C. Joseph
FW F. Wagner
GB G. Bitadze
GH G. Harris
JH J. Howard
JI J. Isaac
KC K. Caldwell-Pope
PB P. Banchero
TD T. da Silva
WC W. Carter Jr.
BOS/ORL the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur