4 takeaways as Celtics crush Magic in big bounceback performance

The Celtics bounced back from an ugly week on Friday night with an impressive 121-94 victory over the Orlando Magic at TD Garden.

Jayson Tatum led the way for the hosts with 30 points, 15 of which came in the second quarter. Kristaps Porzingis also added 23 points in one of his best outings of the year, while Jaylen Brown chipped in with 20 points, including 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

Boston took advantage of an undermanned Magic team missing four rotation players with a dominant offensive effort from all areas of the floor. The Celtics shot a red-hot 61 percent from the field before halftime, helping them build a 12-point halftime lead.

From there, they were able to break the game open in the third quarter by tightening up their defense and pushing the lead to as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter. Cole Anthony (23 points) led the way for Orlando, who are now 1-4 in their last five games.

There will be some rest for the Celtics now as they will be back in action at the TD Garden on Saturday night facing a Hawks team that already won at the TD Garden once this year.

Here are four Celtics takeaways from Friday’s win:

Celtics looking for Kristaps Porzingis early inside: The seven-footer has found his groove offensively over the past week, and Boston made a concerted effort to get him the ball early and often down low. The effort paid off as Porzingis was red hot in the first half, making all five of his shots. He punished smaller Magic defenders in the post and that led to easier looks for him as the game progressed in the pick-and-pop. Jayson Tatum joined Porzingis in trying to find easy offense down low, and the strategy paid off well against an undermanned Magic defense that didn’t have the personnel to match Boston’s frontcourt size. Porzingis delivered his most efficient outing of the year, going 7-of-10 from the field in just 23 minutes.

Celtics starting five finally building some momentum together: Boston entered the game with one of the worst starting five-man units in the NBA this season (-11 net rating over 143 minutes). Those games had led to countless slow starts and ugly stretches over the past month, but the unit may have turned a corner against Orlando. The Celtics started the game looking sharp offensively with committed offense and ball movement, outscoring the Magic by six points in their first half. Joe Mazzulla gave them another seven-minute run in the second quarter, pushing the team’s lead to double digits before finally breaking the game open in the third quarter. With Orlando down two starters, the Celtics’ starting five should have their way with this grouping, but it’s been a rarity to see the group put together multiple good plays in one game this year. Friday was a good start on that front.

Celtics cut back on 3s as they snap out of slump: Boston had been dismal from 3-point range so far in January, but they caught fire early this one, making their first five 3s of the game and knocking down 60 percent of their attempts in the first half (9-of-15 ). In an interesting twist, the Celtics also reduced their 3-point shooting, posting one of their lowest volume halves from 3-point range of the season. Boston’s offensive efficiency still remained elite without the tries thanks to some dominance at the post by Porzingis and Tatum, but it was interesting to see Boston change their strategy for at least one night.

A much-needed blowout for Boston: The Celtics started their toughest stretch of the season on Friday night with five games in seven nights spread across the country. Blowout wins have been few and far between lately for this group, so starting this week with a “get right” game could go a long way toward a successful road trip. They didn’t solve all of their problems overnight, but Joe Mazzulla was able to keep the minutes down among the regulars and the team played with a lot more goals than we’ve seen in their last three games. How much that carries over to Saturday night remains to be seen, but it was a start for a team looking to find some sort of rhythm amid a bumpy stretch.

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