BOSTON — On a night when Jayson Tatum was absent, the Boston Celtics still managed to pull out a win Wednesday to go up 2-0 in the first round playoff series against the Orlando Magic.

The 109-100 victory was a solid one from the Celtics. Tatum was listed ‘doubtful’ going inton the game with a wrist injury suffered in game 1. Nonetheless, Boston has been accustomed to playing not at full strength all season, and tonight was no different. There wasn’t a point in the game where it felt like they took the Magic for granted.

“They’re a good young team so we just got to take care of the ball a little bit better,” said Jaylen Brown who scored a game-high 36 points. “We know they’re going to keep going, they’re not going to give up so we just got to keep playing basketball and let the outcome be determined by us.”

Brown knew he had to step up with JT out and that’s exactly what he did. Brown helped out on the boards with 10 rebounds, and he was aggressive offensively all night. Once again, it was the back court of Jrue Holiday (11), Derrick White (17), and Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard (14) who gave Orlando issues.

Kristaps Porzingis played like the best second option on the floor, which he is. He finished the game with 20 points. We never get to truly see it through the season because he was either injured or the C’s were already an offensive powerhouse. He suffered a cut to the forehead that left him bloody–but he returned to the game. I feel like many including myself hasn’t really mentioned him much, but it’s easy to forget that he’s the one that makes the Celtics a favorite to win.

Paolo Banchero once again showed why he’s a future superstar of the league. He finished with a team-high 32 points while Franz Wagner had 25.

Key stats:

The Celtics hit 10 more 3-pointers than the Magic with 25 to 15. C’s shot 32% while the Magic shot 24%.

Celtics won the rebound battle 46-34. Al Horford and Derrick White came up with some clutch put backs and second chance points.