Celtics sit everyone, still beat Magic in season finale

Zack Cox, Boston Herald on Apr 12, 2026

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BOSTON — The Boston Celtics had as many players in street clothes as in uniform Sunday — yet still finished the 2025-26 regular season with a signature victory.

Having already clinched the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, head coach Joe Mazzulla opted to sit all of Boston’s biggest names against the Orlando Magic and field an eight-man skeleton crew made up mostly of end-of-the-bench players.

Five of those eight (Ron Harper Jr., Amari Williams, Max Shulga, John Tonje and Dalano Banton) made at least 18 appearances in the G League this season. Banton had just signed one day earlier to fill the Celtics’ final open roster spot. The only active players with a chance to contribute in the upcoming NBA playoffs, barring a rash of injuries, were Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh and Luka Garza.

But Mazzulla has championed his team’s depth throughout the season, and the Celtics’ stay-ready group delivered, beating a full-strength Magic squad 113-108 at TD Garden.

Scheierman (30 points), Harper (27 points) and Tonje (13 points) all set career highs for points. Garza also turned in a career-high 27 points with 12 rebounds for a double-double and hit the biggest shot of the night: an off-balance, tightly contested 3-pointer over Wendell Carter Jr. with 32 seconds remaining.

That tiebreaking shot put the Celtics ahead for good after Orlando rallied back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit. Scheierman, who also had seven assists, six rebounds, two steals and a block, outmuscled Carter on the ensuing possession to force a jump ball and help secure the win.

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Neemias Queta, Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, Nikola Vucevic and Hugo Gonzalez all did not dress for the game.

The result, coupled with the Philadelphia 76ers’ victory over the tanking Milwaukee Bucks, dropped the Magic to eighth in the East standings. They’ll visit the 76ers on Wednesday in the 7 vs. 8 play-in game, with the winner advancing to face the Celtics in the best-of-seven first round.

A Celtics-Magic draw would be a rematch of last year’s rough-and-tumble opening-round series, which Boston won in five games. Many of the key Orlando figures from that series remain (Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Carter, head coach Jamahl Mosley), but the Celtics did not see then-injured starting point guard Jalen Suggs or offseason pickup Desmond Bane last postseason.

Boston and Philadelphia last met in the playoffs in 2021. The Sixers currently are without star center Joel Embiid, who underwent an emergency appendectomy this week and has yet to return.

The Celtics went 2-2 against each of their potential first-round opponents this season, with six of the eight matchups coming in October or November.

The JV C’s pushed Orlando from the jump, forcing four turnovers in the opening four minutes, and held a 10-8 lead at the first timeout. But they struggled early to generate offense with most of their primary creators unavailable.

Harper was an early bright spot with 12 first-quarter points on 4-of-7 shooting, plus two steals. His teammates shot a combined 2 for 16 in the first, however, Orlando led by as many as 11.

Scheierman and Garza both reached double figures during the second quarter, and the Celtics kept it close, trailing 61-52 at halftime. They pulled even closer early in the second half, then surged ahead over the course of a dominant third quarter.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Walsh, Shulga and Harper cut Orlando’s lead to 71-70, and another by Scheierman shortly thereafter tied it up at 73-73. A driving dunk by Harper and a Garza putback capped a 13-2 run and gave Boston a four-point lead.

All told, the Celtics scored on nine straight possessions. Five of those were from beyond the arc, headlined by a high-arcing Scheierman stepback over center Goga Bitadze. They outscored Orlando 42-20 in the third quarter and took a 94-81 lead into the fourth before their offense began to lose steam.

Mosley appeared set on resting Bane, whom he played for just six minutes over the first three quarters. But with the Magic on the ropes, he reinserted the veteran guard and kept him on the floor for the entire final period.

Bane hit a three to cut it to 108-104 remaining, and the Celtics turned it over on their next two possessions. Scheierman sprinted back after the second of those giveaways to block a Wagner layup, but Suggs followed with triple that pulled Orlando even. Garza’s contested three seconds later proved to be the difference for Boston.

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