BOSTON — A third quarter explosion for the Boston Celtics helped them catapult themselves over the Orlando Magic Tuesday night in Game 5 to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs.

The 120-89 win in the Garden was mostly about the second half. After not hitting a single 3-pointer in the first half for the first time in the entire season — the C’s began to catch fire. As a unit, the C’s hit nine three pointers in the final two quarters.

Paolo Banchero (34 points) caught two quick fouls and had to exit after picking up his fifth, the game was tied at 53. C’s then finished out the quarter with a 30-9 run. The fourth quarter was no different, Payton Pritchard (10 points), Jaylen Brown (23 points), Al Horford (9 points), Sam Hauser (10 points) and Jayson Tatum all began knocking down shots and became unstoppable. Tatum had back-to-back 30-point games, he had 35 points, 10 boards, and eight assists. Despite battling a wrist injury, Tatum has stepped up, though at times he wasn’t aggressive on the boards tonight.

When Banchero went out in the third quarter, much of the pressure was on Franz Wagner (24 points) to make something happen. However, the big man would miss horribly behind the arc on open shots. For Orlando, they’ll have to fix that part of its team — outside shooting.

Jrue Holiday sat out another game with a hamstring injury. In the first half, his presence was missed as the C’s struggled on the boards and ball movement. C’s also committed turnovers and put up tough shots. The bright light is the fact that Boston didn’t make a deep shot and still only trailed 47-49 at halftime.

C’s will take on the winner of the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks. With Kristaps Porzingis dealing with stitches to his forehead, Tatum’s wrist, Jrue Holidays hamstring, Brown’s knee — the C’s need the time off. Winning in 5 games was crucial.