ORLANDO, Fla. — Derrick White put his Celtics hoodie on backward following a battering by the Magic and had to use his strained left forearm to put it back on straight. Kristaps Porzingis was limping around the locker room on his strained left calf that forced him to leave in the third quarter.
The Celtics left Amway Center on Friday bruised and reeling after taking a real second-half whipping against the rising Magic. A 12-point third-quarter lead disappeared in the matter of three minutes and the Celtics were reduced to patsies the rest of the way.
The Magic outscored Boston by 27 points in the final 22 minutes en route to a 113-96 win, Orlando’s fourth straight over the Celtics. With the win, the Magic took control of Group C in the NBA In-Season Tournament.
Boston had chances to extend its lead several times in the first half but finally shut down when the Magic began scoring in transition along with getting defensive stops. And old friend Moritz Wagner, who spent nine games with the Celtics during the 2020-21 season, once again punished his former team.
Wagner led Orlando with 27 points in 24 minutes, including a stretch of 10 consecutive points to help the Magic pull away.
Offensive rebounding has been an issue for the Celtics all season and they gave up 21 second-chance points. The Magic shot 62 percent in the second half.
Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum again struggled offensively, scoring 26 points but missing all three of his 3-point attempts. Jaylen Brown (18 points) missed 13 of his 14 shots in the second half against the league’s No. 1 defense. Boston lost by double digits despite attempting 15 more free throws than Orlando.
The Celtics also converted just seven 3-pointers, their lowest total since making six on March 11, 2022, a span of 111 games. It was that kind of offensive game. Boston made 11 field goals in the first period and 10 in the second half, and it was also outrebounded, 25-11, after halftime.
“You’re definitely frustrated when you’re not making shots,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “It goes back to those two things, transition [points allowed] and the offensive rebounds. I want to go back and watch. I said this same thing to the team, I don’t have a great feel why those two [Orlando] stretches [happened]. Was it effort? Was it toughness? Was it execution? I’m not sure which one it was so I don’t want to comment on it.
“You’re definitely frustrated when you go empty possession after empty possession and they’re scoring on open threes and offensive rebounds.”
The Celtics led by 11 points early in the second quarter, by 8 at halftime, and then 62-50 after two Tatum free throws with 9 minutes, 41 seconds left in the third period. They had numerous chances to build on those leads but couldn’t put the Magic away.
Finally, Orlando stormed back led by Jalen Suggs’s pair of 3-pointers in transition and a pair of Franz Wagner buckets. The Celtics went scoreless for nearly five minutes, going 0-for-7 shooting with two turnovers and led for the final time after a Sam Hauser layup with two-plus minutes left in the third period.
Orlando opened the fourth with a 12-2 run as Moritz Wagner scored on short drives or putbacks. With Porzingis out and Neemias Queta in the G-League, the Celtics were relegated to leaving Luke Kornet to defend Orlando bigs off the dribble. The Magic hunted that matchup, with the Wagners and Paolo Banchero taking advantage.
The frustration heightened in the fourth quarter as the Magic sensed their biggest win of the season and the Celtics clanged jumper after jumper.
“We had some turnovers and I think they were more physical than us,” Tatum said. “When they went on runs, we weren’t able to respond like we normally do. We’ve just got to play tougher, take care of the ball, get to the spots we want to get to, play with more pace when they try to slow you down.”
The Celtics have given up 57 offensive rebounds in the past four games, including 13 to the Magic. Orlando also chased Celtics shooters off the 3-point line, limiting their attempts. Boston also missed 10 free throws, four in a row when the game was still in the balance.
“Give credit to Orlando, I just think they outplayed us,” Brown said. “They played harder than us from start to finish. In the second half, we didn’t do a good job of creating an advantage, getting to the paint, drive and kicks, not enough of those. We got a little stagnant and got out of rhythm. I still think we had a lot of good looks. We missed easy ones and that put pressure on us, and it just piled. I had some good looks and they just didn’t go in.
“Credit to Orlando. They’re a physical, tough team.”
Porzingis exited and White left briefly with a left forearm strain after being crunched by a Banchero screen, a testament to the Magic’s physicality. Orlando beat the Celtics in their final three meetings last season and are just a game behind Boston in the Eastern Conference.
“We [have to] match their energy,” Brown said. “We knew they were going to come out and play hard, in-season tournament game and just came off a good win against Denver. Seems like us, we came out a little sluggish. It showed.”
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.
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