The Celtics couldn’t overcome cold shooting on Friday night, falling 123-110 to the Orlando Magic in an NBA Cup contest at Kia Center. The loss dropped Boston to 4-6 on the season, while Orlando improved to 4-5.

Boston stumbled out of the gate for the second consecutive game, as the Magic lit it up from long range - which continued all evening. Orlando’s lead swelled to 16 points in the first half, forcing the Celtics to play catch-up. Sixth man Anfernee Simons helped fuel a rally that briefly gave Boston the lead in the fourth quarter, but the Magic closed on a 28-14 surge to secure the win.

It was a statement night for an Orlando team trying to turn around a sluggish start - and one that carried added weight with NBA Cup stakes on the line (more on that in a bit).

Let get into some takeaways for yet another frustrating loss for a team that much higher expectations than what we’ve seen thus far in 2025-26:

1. One of those nights

The Magic, who have struggled offensively for much of the season, found their rhythm early and never lost it. They shot 17 of 36 from three (47.2%), including seven makes in the opening quarter. That early barrage set the tone as seven Orlando players finished in double figures.

Paolo Banchero, usually the team’s leading scorer, had a quieter outing with 15 points on 4 of 10 shooting, but Orlando more than made up for it elsewhere. The Magic also capitalized at the free-throw line, going 24 of 31, as Boston’s fouling issues persisted.

Those fouling issues were not a problem the last two seasons, as Boston fielded a wagon of a roster headlined by a healthy Jayson Tatum. Tatum, along with Al Horford, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, helped Boston play some of the best defense in the NBA over the last two years, with one of those two years ending in the Celtics’ 18th championship in franchise history.

With Jaylen Brown now as the lead banana and a supporting case around him full of guys used to being the understudies, Boston’s lack of defensive cohesion has been noticeable, even to the most casual of basketball fans. While they didn’t blow a massive lead tonight, it was Orlando getting into the bonus early enough in the fourth quarter that helped them pull away late.

Hard defense where you don’t foul is such an underrated art in this league. Boston is nowhere near at the level they need to be at to truly be a top-five seed in the Eastern Conference at this point in time.

2. Speaking of Brown…

He looked great again tonight in defeat, making me feel even better about my B- grade from Thursday’s progress report.

His outstanding scoring stretch continued, carrying the Celtics offense once again. The All-Star shot 15 of 28 from the field and looked in total command, never wavering as his team dug themselves out of that 16-point hole.

Friday marked the sixth time in 10 games that Brown has scored at least 30 points. He reached that mark just nine times in 63 games last season. His efficiency has been among the league’s best to start the year, and he finished with 32 points and 9 rebounds in another strong all-around performance.

…with that said, I really need these great games from Brown to start accounting for Ws. Otherwise, you’re just Bradley Beal on the Wizards, or LeMelo Ball on the Hornets, or Monta Ellis on the Warriors - pick a great scorer on a bad team from any point in the last 20 years, and that’s what Brown’s season is ultimately going to be compared to if they don’t go on a prolonged run of success here soon.

3. Bench Depth Provides Spark

Jordan Walsh and Hugo Gonzalez continue to give Boston encouraging signs in limited minutes. Walsh, who was outside the rotation earlier in the year, impressed against Washington and earned more run on Friday. He logged 19 minutes, contributing 2 points and 6 rebounds while bringing defensive energy.

If I’m going to be hard all training camp and preseason on Walsh for showing us nothing, and if I’m going to double down on it early in the year when he was out of the rotation, I have to give him his flowers when he’s earned it. So for two games, the Arkansas-product is starting to look like the guy we were excited about in the Summer League back in the day. Stretch defender who can provide good energy on a good team. The offensive game clearly isn’t there yet, but we’re starting to get flashes of what Walsh’s profile could look like for the bulk of his NBA career ahead.

I remain perplexed by Mazzulla’s management of Gonzalez’s minutes. When he’s on the floor, good things happen. I need more Hugo minutes!

4. NBA Cup-date

^^^workshopping that. Let me know what you think.

Friday’s defeat dropped Boston to 1–1 in NBA Cup play following their 109-108 win over the 76ers (5-3) seven days ago. East Group B includes the Celtics, Nets (1-8), Pistons (7-2), Magic, and 76ers. The loss doesn’t eliminate Boston from advancing, but it does make the path tougher - especially with point differential factoring into tiebreakers. The Celtics now sit at -12 through two Cup games.

Their next Cup matchup comes on November 21 at TD Garden against the Nets.

Lingering Thoughts & Nuggets:

- Payton Pritchard added 27 points for Boston, bouncing back from his recent slump. His ability to be a real scoring threat for this team this season will be crucial for this team to have any real shot at competing. It’s time to show why the defending Sixth Man of the Year has earned his role as the starting point guard in Boston

- I don’t want to blame the loss on center Neemias Queta, but the combination of his wide-open missed layup followed by a transition take-foul with under two minutes to go was an absolute back-breaker for this team. Generally speaking, I like the season he’s had so far on the offensive end, but this was a bad sequence for the 26-year-old out of Portugal.

- Random nugget for readers who care about this type of stuff - once football season ends, I plan on hitting the road to cover this team. I know my big boss Tom Brew had said travel was something they wanted us to partake in, and I'm more than willing to do so. I mention this tonight, because I would've thoroughly enjoyed a trip to Orlando given that winter has arrived the last few days here in New England. But I digress!

- Let’s end positive, as I liked what I saw again from Anfernee Simons off the bench. His final point total (11) is not something he’ll be telling his grandchildren about, but his 3 for 6 shooting from three was massive towards Boston getting back in this ballgame. If Pritchard’s big night doesn’t turn into a trend, I think Mazzulla will have to think long and hard about some sort of starting five that includes the newcomer from Portland instead of the Oregon Ducks-product.

Up next for Boston - more Magic.

They’ll stay down in Orlando for a game on Sunday, with tip-off set for 6:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.

With Sunday’s game being a normal regular season battle, you’ll see the normal Kia Center court on your television screens.

Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.