BOSTON \u2013 Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and Josh Minott scored 12 of his 16 points in the second quarter when Boston shot 81.8% as the Celtics beat the short-handed Orlando Magic 138-129 on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
Anfernee Simons added 23 points and Payton Pritchard chipped in with 19 and eight assists for the Celtics, who were coming off a tough home loss to Brooklyn<\/a> on Friday. Brown also had eight assists.<\/p>\n The Celtics nearly squandered a 26-point, third-quarter lead. But, Brown scored 12 straight points. The Magic whittled away at their deficit and closed within six points in the final minute.<\/p>\n Jett Howard scored a season-high 30 points for the Magic, who were missing three of their top five scorers<\/a> and had their three-game winning streak snapped. Desmond Bane had 18 points and Franz Wagner 15.<\/p>\n Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley was back back after missing the second half of a victory over the New York Knicks<\/a> on Saturday due to illness.<\/p>\n Boston connected on 18 of 22 shots in the second quarter, turning a five-point lead after one period into an 80-57 edge at halftime.<\/p>\n Minott was 5 for 5 from the floor, connecting on two attempts from 3-point range.<\/p>\n Pritchard keyed a quick 10-3 spurt with a steal and layup before hitting a 3-pointer from the right corner 11 seconds later that made it 66-49. He also made a mid-range jumper with two seconds left in the half, capping the Celtics\u2019 48 points in the period.<\/p>\n Coming off the victory at home against the Knicks, the Magic seemed a bit sluggish and had their franchise record-tying string of eight straight quarters of 30-or-more points end in the opening quarter as they were held to 27 points.<\/p>\n Up next<\/p>\n Magic: At the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday in the second game of a three-game trip.<\/p>\n Celtics: Host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.<\/p>\n