Magic at Celtics
Injuries don't seem to be bothering the Boston Celtics, who are winners of four in a row despite missing some key pieces. The Celtics will try to make it five in a row when they host an Orlando Magic team trying to dig itself out of a hole.
Boston was without All-Star point guard Kemba Walker (knee) in the last two games and Marcus Smart (thigh) sat out Monday but the team still managed to earn a 123-115 victory at the Atlanta Hawks with small forward Gordon Hayward starting at point guard. "I don't think throwing the ball all over the gym is a good recipe to win," Celtics coach Brad Stevens told reporters after watching his team commit 15 turnovers in the win. "But we fought, we made some tough plays, we made some timely plays, and I thought we got a lot of good contributions from a lot of people." The Magic snapped a five-game slide and won for the second time in nine games when they earned a 112-100 victory at Charlotte on Monday. "I think this will be a good confidence-builder," Orlando coach Steve Clifford told reporters after watching his team snap a streak of four straight games scoring under 100 points. "It's good sometimes to have four days off, but we hadn't won a game for two weeks. And, as (everyone) knows, it feels like it has been months. I think it will, hopefully, give us some confidence."
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN, FS Florida, NBCS Boston
ABOUT THE MAGIC (22-28): Orlando's offense got a boost on Monday from point guard Markelle Fultz, who combined 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting with a career-high 14 assists. "Going into the game, my mindset was being aggressive, drawing two and always making the right play," Fultz told reporters. "I have unbelievable trust in all my teammates in them making open shots and making the right plays, so when I had a chance to drive and someone helped, I just kicked it. Our offense was flowing today, and we made shots." The Magic, who dropped a 109-98 home decision to Boston on Jan. 24, shot 53.8 percent from the floor in Monday's triumph as Evan Fournier went 7-of-14 from the floor after going a combined 11-of-45 over the previous three contests.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (34-15): Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown was one of the snubs when All-Star rosters were announced last week but he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday and scored 21 points in the win. Brown is averaging 24 points during the four-game winning streak and was happy to see Boston grind out a victory on Monday. "Just had to figure it out," Brown told reporters. "It was ugly, but we figured it out. We made a lot of mistakes, but we made less mistakes than they did, so we won. As we inch towards the playoffs, we've got to clean up habits and do a better job. We can't just take plays off or shoot bad shots because we're playing against Atlanta. We've got to continue to play the game the right way."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Celtics C Daniel Theis (ankle) left Monday's game and is day-to-day.
2. Magic C Nikola Vucevic is averaging 21.5 points on 20-of-35 shooting over the last two games.
3. Orlando earned the win in both of its trips to Boston last season.