After Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics eliminated the Orlando Magic in a 120-87 win in Game 5, he gave his opponent its due. The Celtics’ 36-13 third-quarter run made playoff history en route to a blowout victory to complete their first-round series win, 4-1.
After the game, Brown addressed the Magic before leaving TD Garden, per NBA’s X, formerly Twitter.
“It was a fight. It was a fight physically, mentally [with] Orlando,” Brown said. “Shout out to them. One team had to advance. Fortunately, it was us. But, respect to Orlando. Getting ready for whoever’s next; either New York or Detroit, we gotta take care of business.”
"It was a fight. Physically, mentally… One team had to advance. Fortunately, it was us. Respect to Orlando."
Jaylen Brown on the Celtics-Magic series 🗣️
(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/zPq4xKiS55
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 30, 2025
Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown finished with 23 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Jayson Tatum flirted with a triple-double (35 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds), including connecting on 4-of-5 from deep, and one steal in Tuesday’s win. Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser led the bench with 10 points each.
The Celtics also set the record for the biggest margin of victory in the playoffs for a team that trailed at halftime (31), according to Dick Lipe of NBC Sports. They beat the record the 2018 Golden State Warriors set when they beat the Houston Rockets by 29 points despite trailing by 10 points after 24 minutes of action.
The Pistons defeated the Knicks 106-103 in Game 5. However, the Knicks still have a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Jayson Tatum reveals silver lining to Celtics’ first-round battle





The Celtics endured a physical brawl against the Magic in their first-round series. However, after losing Game 3, the Celtics responded with a momentum-shifting 107-98 victory on the road before closing out the Magic at TD Garden on Tuesday. The physical nature of the best-of-7 series has only brought out the best from Jayson Tatum, who’s scored 35+ points in the previous three outings.
For Tatum, this is the energy the defending champion Celtics needed to start their quest to win back-to-back titles.
“It was probably exactly what we needed,” he revealed in his postgame press conference. “Good test, first round — couple guys really banged up and dealing with some things, but showing that mental toughness of getting up and getting ready for each game.”
Jayson Tatum on Boston’s tough first round matchup with Orlando:
“[It’s] probably exactly what we needed.” pic.twitter.com/ZNF12SH09G
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) April 30, 2025
Tatum finished the first-round series, averaging 31.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game against the Magic. He shot 44.7% from the floor and 90.2% from the free-throw line. The Knicks will have another opportunity to close out their series with the Pistons on Thursday, which would secure the Celtics’ second-round opponent for Game 1 either Saturday or Sunday.