The Boston Celtics Bench Dominated Orlando

The Boston Celtics Bench Dominated Orlando

trying to recover against the Orlando Magic, who they had just lost to. The Boston Celtics picked up a crucial win to avoid going three games under 500. Your boy DLO doesn’t beat around the bush and gives you the information you need right off the bat. So, subscribe and leave a like for that as the Celtics second unit outscored Orlando’s a ridiculous 50- 18 in this game. Let’s get right into how Boston’s Beastly bench was able to do so. Anthony Simon scored 25 first half points, a Celtics record by a reserve in a half. This included Damen Lillard’s Prodigy scoring 17 straight points. Not only did he set a pretty impressive record in an of course storied franchise with 18 championships from a career standpoint, Simons also achieved some history. Anthony reached 6,000 career points and 1,000 career three-pointers made in the same night. So, what a special showing this turned out to be for the 26-year-old 8-year pro. What made it even more special is the fact that Simons was born in Longwood, Florida, just 21 minutes outside of Orlando. So, the performance that he put on was in his hometown in front of family, friends, and acquaintances. The former Portland Trailblazer and product of IMG Academy has always had the poise on the move that he shown in Boston, but his shot creation and shooting off the dribble specifically have developed significantly since his early years in Portland. Having come off the bench in all 11 games so far for coach Joe Misoula, Simons has been an efficient spark plug that can change the trajectory of games with his distant shooting ability. Anony’s 41.3% clip from deep range is the highest on the Celtics among players taking at least two threes per game by far. And Simons is taking a hefty 7.3 deep range attempts on average, making that percentage even more impressive. But the fact that he’s leading Boston in high volume three-point percentage says a lot given this team has snipers like Pton Pritchard and Sam Hower. We’ll get to Pton Pritchard later on. But the trade to shed Drew Holidayiday’s contract seemed like it was just for cap space incentives. But GM mastermind Brad Stevens knew exactly what he was doing. As Simons has delivered exactly what this Celtics team has needed in the absence of Jason Tatum, a proven score who can take over games with that bucket getting 5-year journeyman out of Iowa, Luca Garza, had barely been given an opportunity for the first four years of his career between Detroit and Minnesota. But through 10 outings in Boston, Garza’s averaging a career-high 13.4 4 minutes per game and more importantly is finally a part of a regular rotation for the first time in his career. It’s great to see a young man taking advantage of his opportunity and Garza is doing just that against the Magic. Garza had 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and a steal. This was Garza’s second game of the season already of posting at least 16 points. The other came against the New Orleans Pelicans, a game in which he knocked down three triples. Garza was a legend at Iowa in college as in his final two college seasons in 201920 and 2021, he averaged 24 plus points, nearly 10 rebounds, and two blocks per game, leading the Hawkeyes in those categories in those seasons. He never got the opportunity to be a star player, let alone even a role player at the NBA level, which is always tough to see from a college legend that takes the next step to the pros. But it seems Garza has finally found a home in Boston. And Joe Mazoula is letting it rip by giving him minutes with the Celtics limited big man rotation minus Horford and Porzingis. The Celtics 38th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft out of Arkansas’s in 2024 NBA champion Jordan Walsh only had six points against the Magic, but he hit a dagger three down the stretch. And the dagger sealed the win for Boston and draining big shots or any shots for that matter is becoming seamless for this third-year pro. Walsh is shooting exactly 50% from deep on 1.4 and four three-pointers attempted per night. This is a massive development given Walsh has never shot over 27% in a season from deep so far in his career. So, we’ll see what Jordan’s shot ultimately levels out to. However, the fact that he’s staying poised enough to seal wins for the Celtics with his three ball does speak volumes in my opinion. His defense was also stellar against the Magic as you saw him clamp up Paulo at times. That said, let’s see my boy Jordan, who I’ve talked about since day one of his career on this channel, keep it up. In addition to Simons, Garza, and Walsh, the 28th pick in the 2025 NBA draft by Brad Stevens and Hugo Gonzalez, hit the one and only shot he attempted, which was a three ball. But more importantly, his impact showed itself on both ends of the floor. Hugo was a game high plus 19 as the rookie showed he can contribute to winning basketball in a win the Celtics needed. While the Celtics aren’t in championship form per se without Tatum and having lost Horford, Holiday, and Porzingis, other pieces of this roster are developing while Tatum recovers, which you have to love if you’re a Boston fan. Additionally, Jaylen Browns really stepped up his game in Jason’s absence, which was expected given the professional we know JB to be. The four-time all-star, AllNBA player, Eastern Conference Finals MVP, Finals MVP, and NBA champion is averaging a career-high 28 points on a career-high 52.2% shooting from the field. His 35.9% clip from deep range is nearly a 4% increase from what he shot in 2024-25 clearly exemplifying that Brown has no problem taking over as the number one scoring option regularly. Jaylen’s assist to turnover ratio needs to be better though as he is turning it over 3.6 times per showing while averaging 3.9 assists per game. On another note, a major storyline for the Celtics has been the surprising struggles of 2025 sixth man of the year, Peyton Pritchard. Pritchard’s been thrown into a starting role and really has had a hard time finding himself. While he is averaging 5.1 assists per game, a careerhigh by far, Pritchard hasn’t been able to find a rhythm from distance to say the very least, and it’s killing the Celtics. He’s attempting 7.4 four threes per game and making just 25.9% of them through 11 outings. Just horrific. Almost just as bad has been the beloved bald mamba Derek White who’s taking 8.7 threes per game. Hefty and hitting just 27.1% of them. Again, just horrific. But there is a silver lining to that. Stay tuned. I’m about to mention it. The Celtics have showed flashes of looking like a playoff team and the win against Orlando is something you build off if you are said playoff team. The fact that the Celtics are five and six with Pritchard and White struggling like they are. Two dudes who play with the swagger that can ignite this team to championship levels like we’ve seen in the past. I think the Celtics are in a decent position here. This was your boy D Flo and I’ll see you next video. Hell yeah. Oh Uh hey, way to come out of your shell in the first half. It’s a great job. Uh secondly, uh Jordan Ugo Way to make big time plays. And most importantly, like a huge sign of trust. Payton goes into the paint. Jordan standing in the corner. He kicks him for an open three. That gets us there. Like that’s the trust uh of building with each other, right? That’s what we have to continue to do. Luke the way bounce back and we made a big momentum play in the first quarter and that set the tone and I think it was like a loose ball that we got or a chase down and like we set it from there and we kept it the entire time, right? And so we just got to continue to fight for that. That’s a hell of a win uh by everybody. It’s good stuff together. One, two, three.

The C’s avoided plummeting to the eastern conference’s dweller by grinding out an exciting victory in Central Florida. Anfernee Simons set a crazy record, Jordan Walsh nailed a certified dagger while Luka Garza has finally found a home after another solid showing. The Celtics may not be title contenders quite yet, but while Tatum recovers, other pieces are developing, an exciting narrative.

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The Boston Celtics Bench Dominated Orlando