Celtics guard Anfernee Simons (4) is congratulated by teammate Payton Pritchard (left) and center Neemias Queta during the first half Sunday night in Orlando.
Celtics guard Anfernee Simons (4) is congratulated by teammate Payton Pritchard (left) and center Neemias Queta during the first half Sunday night in Orlando.Kevin Kolczynski/Associated Press
ORLANDO — The Celtics watched an 11-point fourth-quarter lead against the Magic evaporate Sunday night, and appeared to be on the verge of stumbling to another discouraging loss.
Instead, they bounced back by drilling three big 3-pointers in the final 95 seconds. The first two came from Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, stars who are familiar with spotlight moments. But the third, from Jordan Walsh, was unlikely, and it helped send Boston to a 111-107 win.
Brown had 27 points and Anfernee Simons added 25 off the bench. Walsh played 17 second-half minutes (26 total) and finished with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
Paolo Banchero had 28 points to lead the Magic. But two nights after pummeling the Celtics with a rare barrage of 3-pointers, Orlando came back to earth from beyond the arc, going just 7 for 30 (23.3 percent).
The Magic took an 85-83 lead on a Jalen Suggs runner with 9:55 left in the fourth. But an unlikely lineup gave the Celtics the spark they had been seeking. Hugo Gonzalez and Walsh pestered the Magic with active hands on defense and hit big 3-pointers, and then Luka Garza took over during a 90-second stretch — making a layup off a Walsh steal, converting a putback as he was fouled, and then throwing down a rare dunk to cap the 13-0 run that gave the Celtics a 96-85 lead.
But unlike the Celtics teams that preceded them, this group is unfamiliar with prosperity. Banchero scored six consecutive Magic points and his fadeaway with 1:45 left pulled Orlando within 101-99.
At the other end, with a hand in his face, Brown drilled a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key and flexed afterward. But Banchero added two more free throws to make it 104-101, and Brown was whistled for an offensive foul with 1:13 left.
A Banchero fadeaway with 59.2 seconds to play pulled the Magic within 104-103, but White responded with a big 3-pointer from the left arc. The Celtics had a defensive breakdown on an inbounds play that allowed Jalen Suggs to put in an uncontested layup, and the shot clock was running down at the other end when Brown found Walsh, whose 3-pointer from the right corner with 12.4 seconds to play made it 110-105.
YESSIR 🫡
Jordan Walsh with the big three in tonight's @JetBlue Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/yk84eRuTaR
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 10, 2025
The Celtics sputtered at the start for the third consecutive game, with sloppy passes mixed with breakdowns in transition. After a Brown miss inside just 80 seconds into play, the Magic raced the other way and Franz Wagner found Desmond Bane for a layup that gave Orlando an early 8-0 lead.
A few minutes later, Wagner poked the ball away from Brown and converted a fast-break layup that led to a Celtics timeout. But the break did no immediate good, with a White miss followed by another Magic fast-break counterstrike. White threw the ball away, resulting in a Suggs dunk, and a Wendell Carter Jr. dunk that made it 21-9 midway through the quarter forced Mazzulla to burn a second early timeout yet again.
This time, he removed some starters and, most importantly, send Simons in. After one chaotic scramble in which White twice knocked the ball away, Simons capitalized on that hustle by hitting a transition 3-pointer. And that may have helped ignite the flammable guard, who showed in his old Trail Blazers uniform that he is capable of scoring eruptions.
At the start of the second quarter, he hit a baselined floater that was followed by a 3-pointer from the right arc. Then he was fouled on a 3-pointer, and on a fast-break Payton Pritchard showed good awareness of the hot hand by turning down a decent look at a 3-pointer by finding a trailing Simons, who pulled up from the top of the key and drained the attempt.
23 points in 8 minutes btw... 🤯 pic.twitter.com/VHWGJHKO2I
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 9, 2025
Simons was not done. He took his first truly contested shot of the game, perhaps testing the limits of his surge, and converted the tough fadeaway from the left arc. Then, with 7:18 left, his layup counted thanks to a goaltend, flipping what once was an 11-point deficit into a 48-37 lead, and giving Simons 25 points.
Suggs finally smothered Simons for the rest of his 14-minute stint, and the Magic answered with a 9-0 burst that helped them tie the score at 54 at halftime.
Both teams were unable to create separation during the third quarter, when the largest lead for either team was 3 points. Orlando took an 80-78 lead into the fourth.
The Celtics backups kept them afloat early in the final quarter. Walsh hit a rare 3-pointer and came up with a steal, and Gonzalez found Neemias Queta for an alley-oop and then drilled a 3-pointer that made it 88-85 Boston with 8:27 left.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.