Magic at Celtics
The Boston Celtics will wrap up their longest homestand of the season while looking to keep pace in the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference when they host the Orlando Magic on Friday. The Celtics won the first four of their six-game stay at TD Garden to seize first place in the East from the Cleveland Cavaliers, but a 103-100 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday made it a virtual tie entering Thursday's action.
"It's just a loss," center Al Horford told reporters. "I feel like they jumped on us early, we fought our way back, we got into a good rhythm and just went back and forth and we just couldn't make plays down the stretch." Following the visit from the Magic, Boston heads to New York to take on the Knicks before returning home to host the Cavaliers in a matchup that should help decide who gets the top seed in the playoffs. The Celtics have taken 12 straight matchups at home against the Magic and won each of the first two meetings this season by 30 points, including a 128-98 victory on Jan. 27 in TD Garden. Orlando had no answer for Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook on Wednesday, as he went off for 57 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in handing the Magic a 114-106 overtime defeat.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Orlando), CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE MAGIC (27-48): Forward Terrence Ross is enjoying his late-season stint with Orlando after a trade from Toronto last month, averaging 13.2 points in 17 starts, up from 10.4 with the Raptors. He had 23 points in the loss to the Thunder, scored at least 14 in six straight games and is shooting 56.4 percent from the floor over his last four contests. Center Nikola Vucevic recorded five double-doubles in his last six games, although he shot 3-of-14 in Wednesday's loss.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (48-27): Boston shot 39.8 percent against the Bucks, its lowest mark since March 5 and worst at home since Feb. 27. Isaiah Thomas was the outlier by going 9-of-17 - including 5-of-9 from 3-point range to set a new franchise record for triples in a season (223) - en route to 32 points. Avery Bradley is averaging 10 points while making 1-of-10 3-pointers since returning from a one-game layoff (flu), but he had 23 points in his only game against the Magic this season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thomas also became the sixth Celtic to score 2,000 points in a season and is 58 points shy of matching Sam Jones (2,070) for the 10th-highest total in franchise history.
2. Boston entered Thursday tied for the NBA lead in foul shooting (81.2 percent). Orlando ranked 27th (73.7).
3. Vucevic is 0-for-9 from 3-point distance since going 3-for-3 at Sacramento on March 13.