A sweep is not happening in the first-round series between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic. That much was ascertained Friday night when the Celtics suffered a 95-93 loss in Game 3 of the series at Kia Center in Orlando.
Despite a big scoring output from Jayson Tatum, the Celtics fell short of burying the Magic in a 3-0 series hole, which would have virtually signalled the end of Orlando's 2024-25 NBA campaign.
Following the game, Tatum was asked about a reversed decision on an initially called backcourt violation on Magic star forward Paolo Banchero.
"Nothing I wanted to [expletive] hear," Tatum said when asked about the explanation given to him by the refs (h/t Magic reporter Brett James).
Tatum racked up 36 points on 10-for-22 shooting with four made 3-pointers in Game 3. He also shot 12-for-12 from the field with nine rebounds and four assists in 39 minutes but his effort ultimately went for naught, as the Magic escaped with the victory to cut down Boston's series lead to a game.
The Magic leaned on their 1-2 punch of Banchero and Franz Wagner, who scored 29 and 32 points, respectively.
The Celtics can also blame their poor ball security for the loss, as they committed a total of 21 turnovers, which were turned into 26 points by the home team. Conversely, the Magic only ceded eight points off their 14 turnovers.
Boston can get the momentum back in Game 4 on Sunday before returning to TD Garden for Game 5.
