Daniel Donabedian, Celtics WireMon, November 24, 2025 at 2:00 AM UTC·2 min readBOSTON — After the Boston Celtics lost to one of the worst teams in the NBA on Friday night, Jaylen Brown called out his team's effort. His message was obviously received, as the C's responded on Sunday afternoon by defeating the Orlando Magic, 138-129.
The Celtics brought the energy from the start, tallying a season-high 80 points in the first half (just 3 points shy of breaking the franchise record). However, despite trailing by 26 points, Orlando cut the lead to just 6 with 1:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. Boston managed to hold on via some strong rebounding and easy makes and finished with a season-high field goal conversion rate of 60%.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPer usual, Celtics star Jaylen Brown led the Green Team with 35 points — 13 of those coming in the final frame. Five other C's were in double figures as well, including guard Anfernee Simons, who had 23 points in 22 minutes off the bench.
The Magic were without star forward Paolo Banchero and guard Jalen Suggs. Sunday was the second leg of a back-to-back for Orlando as well. Forward Jett Howard notched a career-high 30 points in the absence of Orlando's primary scorer, but his 3-point attempt to make it a one-possession game with under 34 seconds remaining was off the mark.
Following the much-needed victory, the Celtics are 9-8 on the early season and have prevailed in four of their last five contests. They'll be put to the test again versus another Eastern Conference contender on Wednesday afternoon when they host the red-hot Detroit Pistons, who've won 12 in a row.
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: The Celtics bounced back with a home win over the Magic
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