BOSTON (AP) – While the Celtics took control of their first match of the eliminatory series against the Orlando Magic, the best Boston player was on the back in pain and pulling on his wrist.
As songs of “MVP!” Sown on him, Jayson Tatum finally got up and was acclaimed loudly while he was heading for the bench.
“I just landed on it. He was pulling a second,” said Tatum. “It has somehow disappeared.”
And brought a sigh of relief for a Boston team that just starts its quest to repeat itself as the NBA champions.
DERRICK White marked 30 pointsTatum collected 17 points and finished the match after an end to frightening fall, and the Celtics beat the Magic 103-86 in match 1 of their series of first round qualifying series on Sunday.
Payton Pritchard added 19 points on the bench for Boston, which welcomes match 2 Wednesday evening. Jaylen Brown played 31 minutes and had 16 points On 6 out of 14 shots after missing the last three games of the regular season due to a persistent knee problem.
“We have many different ways of winning. Many different things that we can launch in the teams,” said White.
With Boston leading 89-73 with 8:28 to play, Tatum went up for a dunk and was hit hard by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope while he was trying to block him. Tatum has awkwardly landed on its right side.
He remained briefly before getting up finally, shaking his right hand. After a video review of the referees, Caldwell-Pope’s fault was upgraded to a blatant fault. Tatum subsequently missed the two free throws that followed, but stayed in the game. He said that after-match x-ray had returned clean.
Paolo Banchero led magic with 36 points and 11 rebounds. Franz Wagner has added 23 points for Orlando, who has not come out of the first round of the playoffs since the 2009-10 season.
Orlando led by a point at half-time, limiting a Boston team that set a NBA record for 3 points this season at 7 out of 15 beyond the Arc within 24 minutes of opening and 16 out of 37 for the match.
But the magic overturned the ball more than six times in the third quarter and was upgraded 30-18 while the Celtics took an advance of 78-65 in the fourth. The Celtics advance increased to 19 in the last period.
For the match, Orlando finished with 15 reversals, which led to 24 Boston points.
“It’s match 1, there is nerves. Crowd on. Really strong,” said Banchero. “So it is not a total surprise that we had a little trouble attacking, honestly.”
Brown, who received knee injections last week, did not show any significant effect from the problem at the start of Sunday. Later, with the Celtics leading by 15 in the third trimester, Brown led the way for a two -handed dunk And swung the edge in celebration.
“I don’t have one in a little,” said Brown. “But we are just starting.”
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