The Boston Celtics tip off a three-game road trip on Friday night with the first of two consecutive games against the Orlando Magic.
Friday’s game is an NBA Cup Group B game, while Sunday’s contest will not have that distinction.
Jaylen Brown followed up a 36-point performance in Boston’s 105-103 setback to Utah on Monday by scoring 16 of his 35 points in the first quarter of the Celtics’ 136-107 romp over Washington on Wednesday.
Brown made 13 of 21 shots from the floor against the Wizards before sitting out the entire fourth quarter with the outcome no longer in doubt. He has reached the 30-point plateau in four of his last five games.
“For me, I’m just being aggressive and trying to empower my teammates as much as possible,” Brown said, per the Boston Herald.
Josh Minott scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. He made a trio of 3-pointers for the Celtics, who sport a 4-2 record since Minott was elevated into the starting lineup.
“Josh is big-time, man,” Neemias Queta said, per the Boston Herald. “He plays with a lot of energy. He’s going to rebound for us. He’s going to guard pretty much their best (player), too. His versatility is big-time, and we’ve been playing great since he got to the starting lineup. He’s been a great addition for our team.”
Queta provided an impact as well, making all seven of his shots from the floor during his 15-point performance on Wednesday. Queta also had 12 rebounds and was a plus-23 in 24 minutes.
Impressive numbers to be certain, but Queta and Minott found themselves on the business end of a one-sided “discussion” with Joe Mazzulla with what the head coach deemed to be teachable moments.
“Just coaching them,” Mazzulla said after he cooled down. “Those guys want to be coached. They want to be held accountable. They’ve done some really good things for us, and I think in order to get to a place that we know we can get to, we’ve just got to fight for execution all the time. So they understand that, they hold themselves to a high standard, and they did a great job of that. We’ve just got to keep that up.”
While the Celtics enter Friday’s game on a high note, the Magic begin a three-game homestand on the heels of sustaining their fifth loss in the last seven games.
“When things aren’t going how you planned, how you’d like it, it’s natural for frustration to kick in,” Jalen Suggs said following the team’s 127-112 setback to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, per the Orlando Sentinel.
“That’s just human nature. It’s just, what do you do with the frustration? What do you do with the problem?
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror, both individually and as a unit, and continue to attack and assess our process.”
Orlando continues to be generous with the basketball, much to the chagrin of head coach Jamahl Mosley. The Magic lost 17 turnovers, partly undoing a stellar game by Paolo Banchero (22 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists).
“A lot of it happened to be that we turned it over a couple times, the momentum shifted when they were getting downhill (for) early, easy baskets, and it took its toll on our defense,” Mosley said. “We weren’t able to generate any offense because of the turnovers as well as the fouls. There was no real rhythm to the game.”
