Baylor Scheierman tossed in a career-high 30 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 113-108 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic on Sunday in the final regular-season game for each team.
The Celtics (56-26), who had already secured the No. 2 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs, rested eight players, including their top seven scorers. Boston’s first playoff opponent will be the team that earns the No. 7 seed in the play-in tournament.
Boston’s starting lineup was Ron Harper Jr., Max Shulga, Jordan Wash, Luka Garza and Scheierman.
Garza made a 3-pointer to give Boston a 111-108 lead with 31 seconds to play. After Orlando’s Jalen Suggs missed a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left, Walsh finalized the scoring by making two free throws.
The Celtics received 27 points apiece from both Garza and Harper.
The loss ended Orlando’s five-game winning streak. The Magic (45-37) had won three in a row on the road.
Paolo Banchero and Suggs each scored a team-high 23 for Orlando.
Boston trailed by nine at halftime but outscored Orlando 42-20 in the third quarter.
The Magic needed a win plus a Toronto victory over Brooklyn to finish sixth in the Eastern Conference and avoid the play-in tournament.
The game was tied until Orlando went on an 11-0 run to take a 29-18 lead late in the first quarter. The Magic had a 29-20 advantage entering the second.
The Celtics were within four early in the second but trailed 61-52 at halftime even though they made each of their 17 free-throw attempts in the first half.
Boston tied the game, 73-73, on a Scheierman 3-pointer, and led 75-73 following a Harper dunk with 4:41 left in the third. The Celtics extended their lead to 94-79 on a John Tonje basket with 30 seconds remaining in the third, and had a 94-81 lead when the quarter ended.
