Boston, without top scorer Tatum, were pushed by Miami while Houston levelled their series with Golden State Warriors.Bloodied and bruised, defending champions Boston Celtics have outlasted Orlando to seize command of their NBA playoff series while the Cleveland Cavaliers maintained their series lead over Miami Heat.
Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 36 points as the Celtics overcame the absence of leading scorer Jayson Tatum to beat the visiting Magic 109-100 on Wednesday in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the second-seeded Celtics, who have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“He’s been great and consistent throughout the season,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said about Brown. “He can take it to another level mentally and physically, and he did that for his team tonight. At the end of the day, he’s willing to do whatever it takes for us to win.”
Orlando used an 8-0 run to pull within five points early in the fourth quarter, but the Magic never got any closer.
“I thought we played with a lot of heart, a lot of character,” said Magic forward Franz Wagner. “We made a bunch of runs in the game.” Advertisement
Tatum, who averaged 26.8 points per game during the regular season, didn’t play in Game 2 because of a bone bruise. He was knocked to the floor whi …
