Celtics bench shines in bounce-back win over Magic: 7 takeaways

Boston Celtics

The Celtics claimed a split in their two-game series against the Magic with a 111-107 win.

The Celtics’ bench unit put together its best performance of the season on Sunday as they claimed a split in their two-game series against the Magic with a 111-107 win.

Here are the takeaways. 

Luka Garza had a great bounce-back.

After a game in which the Celtics’ back-up bigs were one of the primary reasons they lost, Luka Garza was one of the biggest reasons the Celtics won on Sunday. 

Garza scored 16 points in 17 minutes, shooting 7-for-8 from the floor. Of his 16 points, 14 came in the second half, and 12 came in the fourth quarter. Four of his eight rebounds were offensive, three of those offensive rebounds led directly to put-back baskets, and two of the put-backs led to and-one opportunities. 

Garza’s performance was particularly important on a down night for Neemias Queta, who fouled out and scored just eight points in 26 minutes. Queta has been the Celtics’ plus/minus superstar over the last few weeks, but he was +0 for the evening while Garza was +9. 

The Celtics are now 3-0 when Garza scores in double figures after he topped 10 in wins over the Pelicans and Cavaliers as well. When Garza plays well, it means the Celtics have some much-needed depth at center, which can go a long way toward a win.

Is Jordan Walsh breaking out?

At the risk of prematurely knighting a player after a few solid performances, Jordan Walsh continued likely the best stretch of basketball in his young career with a six-point, six-rebound, four-assist statline that — once again — didn’t really do him justice. 

Walsh’s defense was impressive. He has a rare combination of quick hands and elite length at his size, and he picked off a pair of steals while helping harass Franz Wagner into a 5-for-17 shooting night with two turnovers. He’s hard to take off the floor even though he isn’t a major offensive threat simply because his tenacity on the defensive end makes things happen. 

Offensively, Walsh generally stays out of the way, but on Sunday, he made two 3-pointers, and the second was a huge one — with 13 seconds left and the Celtics nursing a two-point lead, Jaylen Brown showed some faith in the 21-year-old by finding him open in the corner, and Walsh rewarded Brown’s faith by swishing the dagger 3-pointer. 

Is this the start of Walsh’s break out? The best sign for him going forward is that his biggest contributions are on the defensive end, which Joe Mazzulla will value enormously. Out of all the players in the 8-11 range on the Celtics’ roster, Walsh might be making the best case for rotation minutes. Even in the NBA, few players can match his physical tools, and his physical tools are starting to match his defensive ability. 

Anfernee Simons detonated in the second quarter. 

We’ve written at length about Simons’ tendency to go hot and cold, and Sunday’s game was a perfect example of the former. 

Simons checked in at the 6:21 mark of the first quarter and promptly buried his first shot on his first possession, a step-back 3-pointer that set the tone for his first half. Simons then assisted on a pair of baskets before knocking down another three. 

After that, all the Magic could do was hang on and wait for the fire to burn itself out, but it took a while and cost them a double-digit deficit. Simons scored nine points in the first quarter and 16 in the second, finishing the first half with 25 points. Over a 1:50 second stretch to start the second quarter, Simons scored 14 straight points for the Celtics — three 3-pointers, three free throws and a pull-up jumper. His second-quarter scoring turned a three-point deficit into an 11-point lead when his barrage ended at the 7:18 mark with a layup.

And then, as quickly as it flared, the fire cooled. Simons walked off the floor for halftime and walked off at the final buzzer with the same total: 25 points. 

Sunday’s game was a neat encapsulation of the Simons experience: A blazing hot stretch that gives the Celtics a massive, albeit temporary, boost. That temporary boost keeps the defense honest, however, since it only takes one shot to risk ignition.

While we’re here, we should note that Simons was also whistled for one of the worst-while-still-maybe-technically-correct foul calls you will see: With 3:18 left in the fourth and the Celtics up by just three, Jalen Suggs managed to coax a foul out of the officials by putting his face in a space where Simons’ shoulder couldn’t help but hit as he turned. Nothing about the movement was unnatural or reckless by Simons. The officials reviewed the foul for a flagrant since Suggs was hit in the face but ultimately ruled it a common one, restoring some semblance of sanity.

Was the play really a foul? Maybe – outside of Secaucus, none can say with certainty, but it was a weak one at best.

Another odd 3-point shooting game. 

The Celtics’ 3-point numbers remain confounding. After Payton Pritchard got hot Friday, he shot 1-for-6 again on Sunday, while Jaylen Brown went 1-for-4 and Derrick White was 3-for-9. Sam Hauser shot 0-for-2 from the field and only attempted one 3-pointer in his 17 minutes. 

Meanwhile, the bench won the 3-point battle as well: Simons, Walsh and González were a combined 8-for-11. 

That kind of performance, of course, is unlikely to be a regular occurrence, but any time the bench can spot Brown and White some support from behind the arc, the Celtics’ chances of winning spike significantly.

Jaylen Brown struggled (slightly) against Franz Wagner.

The Magic could do very little to limit Brown on Friday except coax him into taking 3-pointers.

On Sunday, however, Franz Wagner actually managed to defend Brown well on several possessions, and Wagner was one of the only players so far this season who has managed to make Brown’s mid-range shooting a little more difficult. 

Of course, as has been the case all season, Brown still scored plenty: He finished with 27 points, but that scoring output required a 10-for-24 shooting line. Brown beat nearly every other Magic defender with relative ease. Jalen Suggs was no match for him, and he loved getting the Wendell Carter Jr. matchup whenever Orlando’s defense surrendered it. Suggs is too little to keep Brown from getting where he wants to go, and Carter is a perfect target for Brown’s ability to drive and stop on a dime for a mid-range jumper. 

But, Wagner is the rare player who has the length, athleticism and mobility to contest Brown, which is why Brown’s 27 points were slightly less efficient than usual. 

Brown, incidentally, is averaging a career-high 28.1 points per game through 11 games. 

Josh Minott was largely absent.

Minott started the game, but he was one of several players who was largely absent in the second half as Walsh, Garza and Hugo González proved very difficult to remove from the floor given how well they were playing. Minott finished 0-for-2 from the field and was scoreless in just 16 minutes of action. 

Minott has been one of the revelations of the season to date, but it is probably worth noting that all of the excitement around his start would be equally applicable to Walsh and González if they keep playing at this level. This season is an opportunity to see which players on the roster might complement Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, and while Minott has shown already that he could be one of those players, he’s not alone. Big seasons from both Walsh and Minott would be a massive win for the Celtics’ front office.

What’s next

Sunday’s game was the start of another three-in-four-nights stretch. On Tuesday, the Celtics travel to Philadelphia to face the 76ers before heading home to take on the Grizzlies. After Wednesday’s game comes a well-earned respite: three nights off before a visit from the Clippers on Sunday.