Boston Celtics beat Orlando Magic 108-97 for a fifth straight win as Jayson Tatum scores 32 and Paul George closes it

Jayson Tatum scored 32 points, 15 of them at the free-throw line, Paul George scored 10 of his 17 in the fourth quarter, and the Boston Celtics beat the Orlando Magic 108-97 at Kia Center on Sunday, November 1, for their fifth straight win. Boston is 5-1. Orlando is 2-4 and has lost all three of its home games.

Tatum made 8 of 19 shots and 15 of 17 free throws, with 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 34 minutes. Through six games, he and two Celtics greats share a club: Larry Bird in 1987-88 and John Havlicek in 1970-71 are the only other Boston players to average at least 28 points and 7 assists over the first six games of a season.

JT DOES HIS THING, 5 STRAIGHT WINS FOR BOSTON!

☘️ 32 PTS
☘️ 4 REB
☘️ 7 AST
☘️ 2 BLK@jaytatum0 joins Larry Bird (1987-88) and John Havlicek (1970-71) as the only @celtics players to average 28+ PTS and 7+ AST through the first six games of a season! pic.twitter.com/5Cw5HK1ooR

— NBA (@NBA) November 1, 2026

Video: NBA / X.

How it turned

Tatum nearly did not get that far. Late in the first quarter, the back of his head hit Jamal Cain’s forehead, and he went to the locker room bleeding. He returned with 6:13 left in the second quarter and scored 9 more points before halftime, including a three and a layup, as Boston went into halftime up 55-50.

The Celtics then scored the first nine points of the third quarter. George hit a three, set up Neemias Queta for an alley-oop, and Tatum added two free throws and a jumper to make it 64-50. Derrick White’s three pushed the lead to 69-54, its biggest of the night at 15, before Orlando answered with an 18-3 run built on three Tristan da Silva threes and Anthony Black’s three with 46.1 seconds left that tied it at 72. Tatum was fouled on two three-point attempts in the final 36 seconds of the quarter and made five of the six free throws, and Boston led 77-74 going into the fourth.

Black’s three-point play tied the game at 79 with 11:11 left, the last time Orlando drew level. Boston answered with an 18-6 run: Payton Pritchard’s three-point play, a Luka Garza three, a George three and two George free throws, and a Baylor Scheierman three made it 97-85, and when Desmond Bane and da Silva cut it to 97-93 with 3:59 left, Tatum hit back-to-back pull-up jumpers. Queta blocked Franz Wagner twice in the final 2:01, and George’s three with 1:32 left made it 106-95.

JT & PG had their handprints all over the fourth quarter 😤 pic.twitter.com/JdQbtiCXRG

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 2, 2026

Video: Boston Celtics / X.

The numbers

Boston made 22 of 26 free throws to Orlando’s 15 of 19, had 7 blocks to the Magic’s 2 and forced 18 turnovers. The Celtics made only 12 of 44 threes, and Payton Pritchard went 0 for 7 from deep. Their bench scored 32: Luka Garza had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and Scheierman scored 10 on 4-of-5 shooting. Queta started at center with Mitchell Robinson resting and finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. White scored 12 and was a game-best +18.

The Magic’s side

Black and da Silva scored 23 each. Black made 10 of 11 free throws and had 8 rebounds, and da Silva went 9 of 14 with 5 threes and 10 rebounds off the bench. Bane scored 19 with 5 threes. Wagner had a career-high 12 assists but made 5 of 20 shots for 14 points, as Boston loaded up on him with Paolo Banchero (ankle) out for a fourth straight game. Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac and Noah Penda were also out.

What’s next

The Celtics visit the Houston Rockets on Monday, November 2, at 8:30 p.m. ET (3:30 a.m. Tuesday Cairo time). The Magic host the Washington Wizards on Monday, November 2, at 7:30 p.m. ET (2:30 a.m. Tuesday Cairo time).

Full box score and play-by-play: Game Center. All-time head-to-head.