As Jason Beede explained, the “guys” Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic referred to were not the usual stars of the Boston Celtics, but a mix of reserves and lesser-used players stepping into bigger roles.
With Boston already locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and resting its regular starting lineup along with several key rotation pieces, the team entered the game with just eight available players – yet still managed to outperform the Orlando Magic.
Several of those fill-in contributors delivered standout performances, with Baylor Scheierman scoring 30 points, Ron Harper Jr. adding 27, Luka Garza also putting up 27, and John Tonje finishing with 13 – all marking career-best scoring efforts on the same night.
“They hit a ton of shots, we turned it over, gave them a couple extra opportunities and that was a big portion of the ballgame,” Jamahl Mosley said.
“But you’ve got to give Boston a hell of a ton of credit for the way they came out with those seven-eight guys and played their tails off.”
As the Magic gear up for Wednesday’s play-in game, Paolo Banchero admits Sunday’s regular season finale was “frustrating.” More: https://t.co/BPXlgMjdrZ
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) April 14, 2026
