Brown steers Tatum-less Celtics past Magic with 36

BOSTON — As it became evident that All-Star Jayson Tatum would have to sit out Game 2 of the Celtics' first-round playoff series against the Orlando Magic, Jaylen Brown wanted Boston coach Joe Mazzulla to know something.

"He came in saying he was going to do everything it takes to win," Mazzulla said.

Brown came through on that promise. And his teammates followed his lead, as the Celtics beat the Magic 109-100 on Wednesday night.

Brown had 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Kristaps Porzingis returned to the game after getting a bloody gash to the forehead and finished with 20 points.

Boston took a 2-0 series lead while playing without Tatum, who has a bone bruise in his right wrist and missed a playoff game for the first time in his career.

"We've got a lot of talent, so it just comes down to being ready to go," Brown said. "We came out and were aggressive. KP looked good. We've just got to look forward to Game 3."

The Celtics were 8-2 in the regular season without six-time All-Star forward Tatum, both losses coming to Orlando.

"They are a good young team. We've just got to take care of the ball a little bit better," Brown said. "We know they're going to keep going, they're not going to give up, so we've just got to keep playing basketball and let the outcome be determined by us."

Tatum, also Boston's assists and rebounds leader, suffered the injury after landing awkwardly following a dunk when he was fouled by Orlando's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in Game 1.

"Obviously, JT is the offensive leader, and we play off him," Brown said. "But, any given night, I can rise to the occasion."

Boston led by 15 points in the second half, then held off a late push by Orlando. The Celtics hit 12 3-pointers and went 25 of 33 from the free-throw line. Derrick White and Brown had 17 of Boston's 28 points in the final period; White finished with 17.

"He was leading us on both ends," Porzingis said of Brown. "He was being JB."

"You just trust that mindset, really the warrior mentality that he has," Mazzulla said. "He can take it to another level, mentally and physically."

Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 32 points and nine rebounds. Franz Wagner scored 25.

"They came out of the locker room and went on a run. We had trouble coming back from that," Banchero said.

Game 3 is Friday night at Orlando.

In his eight seasons with Boston, Tatum had not missed a playoff game.

Clad in street clothes, he joined his team prior to tip-off and sat at the end of the bench.

Mazzulla characterized Tatum's status as day-to-day.

Caldwell-Pope was booed nearly every time he touched the ball in the aftermath of his Game 1 foul on Tatum, which the Celtics' Al Horford later characterized as being excessive.

Tempers flared between Caldwell-Pope and Horford when their feet got tangled up and sent both crashing to the floor at the 4:42 mark of the second quarter.

Brown then exchanged words with Caldwell-Pope. Referees reviewed the play and determined it was a common tripping foul on Caldwell-Pope.

Then, late in the third quarter, Porzingis went to the locker room with a gash to his forehead after taking an elbow from Goga Bitadze, but returned in time to shoot a pair of free throws. The play was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant foul on Bitadze.

During the review, Porzingis emerged to a loud ovation, with dried blood streaking down the back of his head and a bandage on the center of his forehead. He re-entered the game and connected on one of his two free throws before exiting again.

Porzingis returned to the bench area midway through the period, and came back into the game with 7:15 left. He said he got five stitches to close the wound.

"I love my WWE moments," Porzingis said. "We're not going to get let anybody punk us. We expect teams to do this kind of stuff. We're not surprised, but we're not going to take it. We're going to hit them right back."

Agencies Via Xinhua