The Boston Celtics eliminated the Orlando Magic from the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs Tuesday, and they did it with an emphatic statement.
After a back-and-forth, physical first half in Game 5 at TD Garden, the Celtics offense finally got rolling in the second half and cruised to a 120-89 series-clinching win.
Jayson Tatum again led the Celtics with 35 points, along with 10 assists and eight rebounds in 34 minutes. He has scored 35-plus points in three consecutive games since missing Game 2 of the series due to a bone bruise in his right wrist.
Jaylen Brown chipped in 23 points and Boston’s bench scored 39 points.
The Celtics made some impressive history, too. They became the first team ever to trail at halftime in a playoff game and win by 30-plus points.
Boston trailed 49-47 and ended up winning by 31 points, highlighted by a 36-13 scoring advantage in the third quarter.
Even though the Celtics lost only one game in this series, it was a pretty hard-fought matchup. It was a very physical series, and the Magic’s defense gave the Celtics problems throughout.
The good news for the Celtics is that they got the job done in quick fashion and bought themselves some valuable time to rest and recover before starting their Eastern Conference semifinals series.
The C’s will play the winner of the New York Knicks vs. Detroit Pistons first-round matchup. The Knicks lead that series 3-2 with Game 6 in Detroit scheduled for Thursday.
