The Boston Celtics did not make things easy, but they are only one game of the closure of their opening eliminatory series.
The Celtics were held late to win a 107-98 victory against Orlando Magic in match 4 of their series on Sunday evening at the Kia Center. This gave Boston an advance of 3-1 and will send him home with the opportunity to close the series at TD Garden on Tuesday evening and keep his quest to defend the championship of last season.
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Magic has kept things close for a large part of the night. They tried several times to set up a return, and almost did so late in the fourth quarter too. The Magic equaled things at the end of the last period after a huge Kentavis Caldwell-Pope 3-Pinter, then a tip from Wendell Carter Jr. He marked the first draw of the match since the end of the second quarter.
But it was as close as magic became. The Celtics struck a quick race of 10-1, and abandoned the only frank launch after a technical fault by Al Horford, to win the victory of nine points. Kristaps Porziņģis launched this leak with a huge and a dunk, then Jayson Tatum pierced a blander of Fadeway on Paolo Banchero.
From there, Boston struck several free throws and kept the magic offensive largely stagnant in the last minutes to win the victory. Banchero led Orlando with 31 points and seven rebounds in defeat. Franz Wagner finished with 24 points and seven assists, and Cory Joseph added 12 points and six assists.
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Tatum finished with 37 points and 14 rebounds despite the shot only 3 out of 10 behind the arc. He now has 32 career playoffs with at least 30 points, which is the second largest number in the history of the team, and he went 14 out of 14 of the band. Jaylen Brown added 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Derrick White finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Boston only went 9 out of 31 from the 3 -point line line, but he only missed two group throws in groups.
The Celtics were again without Jrue Holiday on Sunday. Holiday, who also missed match 3, faces a right injury to the hamstrings. It is not known how long it will be sidelined.
Is Kristaps ok?
Porziņģ's health may be something to watch for Celtics in the near future.
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Porzingis did not take the ground with the Celtics to start the second half, and rather made stationary bike in the tunnel right next to the field. He was also spotted with an envelope on his right calf on the bench.
Porziņģs ended up returning to the game. He finished with 19 points and five rebounds, and had big troubles all night, but he seemed to be fine. The Celtics seemed to have a great spark when he returned from the bench in the fourth quarter as well. The injury, however, is only the last time that he has been confronted so far with this series. He was on the wrong side of a blatant fault in match 2 when he took a elbow on the forehead, which left him bloodied and bandaged.
The Celtics are undoubtedly better when Porziņģ is both healthy and without problem. If they will close the series on Tuesday evening, it will be much easier with Porziņģ is fully available.
