SUMMARY
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Moritz Wagner scored 25 points and Paolo Banchero added 20 as the Orlando Magic earned a 117-109 road win over the NBA-leading Boston Celtics on Friday, December 16 (Saturday, December 17, Manila time).
Banchero was 3-for-6 from three-point range and added 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal as the Magic extended a season-long win streak to five games and won for just the second time on the road this season.
Franz Wagner scored 19 points, Cole Anthony had 14, and Markelle Fultz 12 for Orlando. Bamba pulled in 12 rebounds. Orlando shot 46.2%.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with a game-high 31 points and Jaylen Brown dropped 26 for the Celtics, who returned from a 4-2 road trip to begin a long homestand.
Boston center Robert Williams III (9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) made his season debut. He missed the first 29 games after undergoing left knee surgery in September.
Horford and Tatum each knocked down a pair to help the Celtics start 4-of-6 from downtown and build a 14-4 lead.
Williams energized the crowd by taking Smart’s alley-oop for a two-hand dunk with 5:19 left in the first, but the Magic closed within a possession after a 5-0 spurt. Orlando finished the quarter on a separate 14-4 run.
Franz Wagner’s hook shot at 1:03 gave the Magic a 27-26 lead before Banchero’s triple at the buzzer padded it to 32-28.
In the second, a Tatum three-point play and 3 more consecutive free throws brought Boston within one, but Terrence Ross’ driving hook and another Franz Wagner three ended a 13-4 Magic run that created a 49-39 lead.
Malcolm Brogdon’s fast break layup brought the Celtics within 54-52. It was an eight-point game at halftime.
Free throws after an Al Horford flagrant 2 and Tatum technical foul fueled a 9-1 stretch that upped the Magic’s third-quarter lead to 19, but Boston’s 14-4 response capped by Brown and a pair of Williams dunks moved the score inside double-digits with 4:36 left.
Anthony canned a pull-up jumper and a layup to highlight an 8-2 spurt four minutes into the fourth. Brogdon and Brown tried to help spark Boston again, but Bamba hit a three before 3 straight Fultz baskets extended the Orlando lead to 110-96.
Banchero hit a triple with 2:44 left, but Moritz Wagner’s driving dunk was seemingly the dagger in the final minute. – Rappler.com
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