Orlando, FL – Courtney Lee scored 20 points and the Boston Celtics handled the Orlando Magic with ease, 120-88, on Saturday.
Lee was one of seven Boston players to score double-digits. Jeff Green and Jordan Crawford had 17 and 16 points, respectively. Kevin Garnett, Brandon Bass and Avery Bradley scored 14 points apiece, with Garnett also grabbing nine boards. Paul Pierce tallied 12 points for the Celtics, who were coming off a 109-101 loss at Miami on Friday.
The Celtics, who beat the Magic for the eighth straight time, clinched the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference standings with two games left on the schedule. They will face Indiana at home on Tuesday before finishing the regular season in Toronto on Wednesday.
"I like our team, I like our team a lot," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "The key for us is to get through these two games, have some great practices and get ready for the playoffs. That's what you play the whole season for."
Tobias Harris scored 22 points and Nik Vucevic recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, who have lost six of their last seven games.
"Very disappointed," said Harris. "Played a great team ... and just not lived up to the opportunity and it managed to be a tough game for us."
Entering the second quarter, the Celtics had a 23-17 lead.
Orlando cut the deficit to 24-21 in the first minute of the period, but Boston went on a 15-0 run to lead 39-21 with 6:42 remaining.
Bass dunked the ball at the buzzer and the Celtics' lead increased to 20, 57-37, at halftime.
Both teams put on a shooting clinic in the third. The Magic scored 27 points, with Harris and Vucevic combining to score all but one. Harris had 16 points and was nearly perfect, hitting all five of his shots on the floor and was 5- of-6 from the foul line.
However, the Celtics were better. With a balanced attack, the Celtics had 28 points in the period on 64.7 percent shooting. Boston extended its lead by as many as 27 points late in the frame and had an 85-64 advantage entering the fourth quarter.
With a commanding lead, Rivers rested his starters with the exception of Green, but the Celtics didn't let up. Lee had 15 points and the Celtics scored 35, allowing the team to take the easy win.
Game Notes
Orlando's Doron Lamb had 11 points in the fourth quarter ... Pierce had eight assists ... Green, Pierce and Bass each had 10 points in the first half ... The Magic outscored the Celtics in second chance points 17-2 ... Boston swept Orlando for the second straight season.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.