Tatum falls as Celtics beat Magic

As the Celtics were taking control of their playoff opener against the Orlando Magic, Boston's best player was on his back, in pain and tugging at his wrist.

As chants of "MVP" rained down on him, Jayson Tatum eventually rose to his feet and was loudly cheered as he paced toward the bench.

"I just landed on it. It was throbbing for a second," Tatum said. "It kind of went away."

It brought a sigh of relief for a Boston team just starting its quest to defend its NBA champion title.

Derrick White scored 30 points, Tatum had 17 points and finished the game after a scary late fall, and the Celtics beat the Magic 103-86 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Sunday.

Payton Pritchard added 19 points off the bench for Boston, which hosts Game 2 on Wednesday night. Jaylen Brown played 31 minutes and had 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting after missing the final three games of the regular season due to a lingering knee issue.

"We've got many different ways we can win. A lot of different things we can throw at teams," White said.

With Boston leading 89-73 with 8:28 remaining, Tatum went up for a dunk and was hit hard by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as he tried to block it. Tatum landed awkwardly on his right side.

He stayed down briefly, before eventually rising to his feet, clenching his right hand. After a video review by referees, Caldwell-Pope's foul was upgraded to flagrant. Tatum subsequently missed the two ensuing free throws, but remained in the game. He said a postgame X-ray came back clean.

Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 36 points and 11 rebounds. Franz Wagner added 23 points for Orlando, which has not made it out of the first round of the playoffs since the 2009-10 season.

Orlando led by a point at halftime, limiting a Boston team that set an NBA record for 3-pointers this season to 7 of 15 from beyond the arc in the opening 24 minutes, and just 16 of 37 for the game.

But, the Magic turned the ball over six times in the third quarter and were outscored 30-18, as the Celtics took a 78-65 lead into the fourth. The Celtics' lead grew as high as 19 in the final period.

For the game, Orlando finished with 15 turnovers, which led to 24 Boston points.

"It's Game 1, there's nerves. Lit crowd. Really loud," Banchero said. "So, honestly, it's not a total surprise that we struggled a little bit on offense."

Brown, who received injections in his knee last week, didn't show any noticeable effects of the issue at the outset Sunday. Later, with the Celtics leading by 15 in the third quarter, Brown drove in the lane for a two-handed dunk and swung on the rim in celebration.

"I haven't got one of those in a little bit," Brown said. "But, we're just getting started."

Agencies via Xinhua