The Boston Celtics had just eight active players on the roster as they hosted the Orlando Magic in their final game of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. Despite relying on a rotation of end-of-bench players against the Magic, who had their healthiest available lineup this season and needed a win to hold on to the No. 7 seed in the East, the Celtics picked up a 113-108 win to end the season with 56 wins.
Baylor Scheierman played 39 minutes and put up 30 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, while Luka Garza had 27 points and 12 rebounds in 38 minutes of action. Ron Harper Jr. showed the Celtics made the right call by extending his contract, putting up 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals in this win.
Despite having three players score over 20 points, the Magic just couldn’t keep up with the Celtics. Paolo Banchero had a triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists, while Jalen Suggs had 23 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Franz Wagner scored 20 points, but it clearly wasn’t enough.
Let’s take a look at the biggest learnings from this clash as we head into the NBA Playoffs.
1. Celtics Can Rely On A Deep Playoff Rotation
The Celtics ruled out seven core rotational players for this game, with Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Nikola Vucevic, Neemias Queta, and Sam Hauser not participating. Fringe player Hugo Gonzales also missed this clash. As a result, the Celtics emptied out their bench with heavy minutes in this clash, who looked right at home in a high-intensity game against a Magic squad chasing a win.
As rotations trim down in the postseason, the Celtics have shown they genuinely have 11 players who could get minutes, with Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza, and Ron Harper Jr. making their cases as well. While they will see minutes fluctuate depending on the matchup and series situation, it’s a great luxury to have for the Celtics, who were forced to develop these players during Jayson Tatum’s absence this season.
2. Magic Lose Home-Court Advantage For Play-In Tournament
This game was the only one to cause a standings change in the Eastern Conference on the final game day of the season. The Magic’s loss meant that they fell to No. 8 in the East after the Philadelphia 76ers picked up a 126-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. This helped the 76ers steal No. 7 from the Magic, as they’ll now be the host for the 7-8 Play-In Tournament clash instead of Orlando.
The 76ers were already going to be a tricky opponent since they’re a better roster on paper than what their record would indicate due to injuries. Having home-court advantage against them would’ve been a huge positive for the Magic, who are 19-20 on the road this season. Unfortunately, they let this one slip against the Celtics’ bench players and will pay the price with a marginally tougher path to the Playoffs.
3. Orlando’s Offense Doesn’t Look Playoff-Ready
This was an ugly offensive game from the Magic. Nobody has watched them play basketball this season and sung praises about their offensive skill, as the franchise has a 114.2 offensive rating (17th-best in the NBA) this season. If any fans or experts had any reservations about how Orlando’s offense would cope in the Playoffs, this game reinforced their beliefs that the Magic don’t have the scoring power necessary to win a Playoff series.
Orlando shot 36-91 (39.6 FG%) from the field and 12-43 (27.9 3P%) from three in this game. They couldn’t buy a basket and still lost by just five points against a much-weaker team than them. If they have to face the Celtics or the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the Playoffs, it’s hard to imagine how this Magic squad can hope to generate consistent offense against two of the best defensive teams in the NBA.
4. Perfect Night From The Celtics In One Area Was Too Much For The Magic
The Celtics tried to ensure their offensive identity in this clash remains the same as what we have seen this season, even if the players on the court weren’t as productive as the star players who run this system for an entire season. As a result, the Celtics were an average shooting team tonight, going 36-87 (41.4 FG%) from the field and 19-50 (38.0 3P%) from three tonight. The Magic’s inability to score helped Boston get by with a win on a night that would’ve handed them a loss otherwise.
However, the Celtics went perfect from the free throw line (22-22 FT), as compared to the Magic’s 24-30 (80.0 FT%). While 80% free throw accuracy is nothing to scoff at, this funnily cost them this game. The Celtics didn’t miss a single opportunity at the line, while Orlando missed six of them in a game they lost by five points. Perfection can often yield great results, and the Celtics are living examples of this after this win.
5. Joe Mazzulla’s Coaching Philosophy Breeds Success
Wins like these highlight how strong a particular coach is, as many NBA coaches wouldn’t pull a result like this off when given the roster constraints Joe Mazzulla had tonight. The man who won a championship in his second season as a head coach has put a clear system in place with the Celtics, and it seems every player on their roster is locked in with that. They force turnovers with strong perimeter defense that punishes sloppy play while looking to maximize offensive opportunities with three-point makes, points in the paint, and offensive rebounds.
The Celtics and the Magic were closely-matched on almost every single key metric. Boston lost the rebounding battle (46-50), but generated more assists (24-22), blocks (6-5), and had fewer turnovers (17-19). The key difference came with steals, as the Celtics’ 10 steals on the night led to 23 points, as compared to the Magic scoring just 11 points off turnovers. Despite the Magic being the better team in the paint and in the fast-break, the turnovers the Celtics forced and their 38.0% three-point shooting on the night were too much to overcome.
This win will be a feather in Mazzulla’s regular-season cap this season, but it’s time for everyone to move on and focus on the Playoffs now.
