Celtics win with depth
Boston closed the regular season with a 113–108 victory over Orlando while missing multiple starters, showing bench players carried the game. The Celtics reportedly won without J.B., Tatum, White, Pritchard, Vuc, Hauser and Hugo, and highlight packages emphasize bench scoring, role‑player confidence and system continuity. That result was presented in postgame coverage as evidence of organizational depth rather than a star performance. ( )
Boston beat Orlando 113-108 on April 12, closing the regular season with reserves and fringe rotation players carrying the offense. (nba.com) Baylor Scheierman scored a career-high 30 points, Luka Garza added 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Ron Harper Jr. finished with a career-best 27 for Boston. (espn.com) Boston sat eight regular rotation players, including Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and still erased an early double-digit deficit. The Celtics won the third quarter 42-20 and built a 94-81 lead. (espn.com) The result locked Boston into a 56-26 finish and the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed. Orlando fell to 45-37 and dropped into the East play-in bracket. (espn.com) That made the game less about star power than roster construction. Boston got 84 points from Scheierman, Garza and Harper, with Garza hitting the go-ahead three-pointer with 31.6 seconds left after Orlando tied the score. (espn.com) The Celtics spent much of the season managing injuries and absences, including Tatum’s recovery from Achilles tendon surgery, and still finished second in the conference. Sunday’s closing lineup looked more like a preseason group than a playoff rotation. (espn.com) Orlando had more at stake entering the afternoon. The Magic had won five straight, entered tied with Toronto for sixth, and could have secured a home play-in game before the loss pushed them to a road game at Philadelphia. (espn.com) Paolo Banchero had 23 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for Orlando, and Jalen Suggs added 23. Wendell Carter Jr. cut Boston’s lead to three with 1:37 left, and Suggs tied it on a right-wing three before Garza answered. (espn.com) Boston now waits for its first-round opponent. The final box score looked unusual, but the standings did not: the Celtics ended the regular season near the top of the East again. (espn.com)
