Celtics reserves beat Magic, send Orlando into road play-in game

Boston’s reserves did more than close the regular season with a win. They handed Orlando a harder postseason road, beating the Magic 113-108 at TD Garden and pushing them out of sixth place and into the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed.

Baylor Scheierman led the Celtics with a career-high 30 points, Luka Garza added 27 and buried a crucial 3-pointer with 31.6 seconds left, and Ron Harper Jr. matched his own career best with 27 points. With Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and six other regular rotation players sitting out, Boston still survived a back-and-forth fourth quarter and finished 56-26, locking in the East’s No. 2 seed.

Orlando entered the final day tied for sixth, but the loss dropped the Magic to 45-37 and into the play-in bracket. The Celtics’ reserves opened the fourth quarter with a 101-85 lead, then watched Orlando rally behind Paolo Banchero, who posted a triple-double with 23 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, and Jalen Suggs, who scored 23. Suggs later hit a 3-pointer to tie the game before Boston answered again, keeping the Magic from seizing control.

The result sends Orlando to Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference 7-8 play-in game against the 76ers. The loser there will need another chance to stay alive, a reminder of how quickly a season can change when the margins are this thin. Boston, meanwhile, moves on without disruption: the Celtics remain planted in the playoff bracket, while the Magic must survive a road elimination path to reach the first round.

The broader postseason timetable is already set. The NBA’s 2026 SoFi Play-In Tournament runs April 14-17, and the first round of the playoffs begins April 18. In front of 19,156 at TD Garden, Boston’s bench turned a regular-season finale into a seeding swing that will shape Orlando’s path for the next week.