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A disastrous third quarter and a plethora of turnovers doomed the Boston Celtics in Game 3 on Friday night, as they fell 95-93 to the Orlando Magic. And while there's plenty of blame to go around, Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis was ready to accept the brunt of it.
The Latvian big man put up just seven points in 34 minutes, missing seven of his 10 attempts from the field. He's yet to hit a 3-pointer in the first-round series, which now stands at 2-1 in Boston's favor.
Following Boston's fifth straight loss at the Kia Center, Porzingis spoke honestly about his subpar outing, via Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog.
“My shot is feeling a little janky right now, I'm not gonna lie,” Porzingis admitted. “I have to keep shooting. What else am I gonna do? I'm gonna keep shooting. But it stings, man. This game, I have to take accountability, I played like s**t.”
Kristaps Porzingis was bummed at his performance:
“It stings, man. I have to take accountability. I played like shit.”
(Q: @SouichiTerada) pic.twitter.com/c4siClOcTb
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) April 26, 2025
Porzingis posted a plus-minus rating of -16, the worst of any player on either side. He was also responsible for two of Boston's 19 turnovers, just one shy of its season-high.
Despite the Celtics' uncharacteristic mistakes and an embarrassing 11-point third quarter, Game 3 went down to the wire. A quick dunk from Celtics guard Derrick White brought the Magic's once double-digit lead down to two with 28 seconds remaining.
The Magic hold the Celtics to 11 points in the 3rd quarter, their lowest in any quarter this season 🗜️ pic.twitter.com/Ng2ZO48h9Y
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 26, 2025
The Celtics then earned a crucial stop on the other end, but had less than a second to work with after head coach Joe Mazzulla used his last timeout. In a desperate attempt to tie the contest, White threw a high-arching pass on the inbounds intended for Porzingis. However, the ball hit the rim and time expired before he could make a play.
“We still had opportunities to win,” Porzingis said. “We'll get together again and correct some of our mistakes.”
Game 4 tips off at 7 p.m. on Sunday evening. It'll offer the Celtics another chance at breaking their losing streak in Orlando before the series heads back to Beantown.
