On this day in 1996, the Boston Celtics snapped the Orlando Magic’s 51-game home winning streak, an NBA record, with a 100-98 victory on the road. Orlando had not lost a home game to an opponent since April 1994.
Point guard David Wesley led Boston with 22 points and 7 rebounds, and forward Rick Fox added 16 points, 6 boards and 5 assists.
Reserve guard Dee Brown contributed 15 points and 6 assists off the bench, and center Pervis Ellison chipped in 13 points, 7 boards and 6 blocks for the win.
“Certainly, we’re not the same team with Penny [Hardaway] and Shaq both off the floor, but we’re still good enough to win this game this evening,” said Magic head coach Brian Hill after the loss (via the New York Times’ Clifton Brown). “We had a double-digit lead in the second half. We still should have won.”
This day in NBA History 1996: Boston defeated Orlando 100-98, snapping Magic's NBA record 51-game home winning streak pic.twitter.com/qazsqXh1P5
— The Pick and Roll (@PickandRollAU) April 4, 2015
It is also the anniversary of two victories since the season of Boston’s last championship in 2008-08.
The first was a 117-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 despite 42 points from LeBron James. The last-second 3-pointer the future megastar launched missed its mark, and Boston escaped with the win.
UConn product Ray Allen carried the Celtics with a season-high 33 points on 10-of-17 shooting (including 6-of-9 from 3-point range), point guard Rajon Rondo added 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Kevin Garnett put up 19 points and 8 boards.
“We don’t like them. They don’t like us. So I wasn’t surprised at all,” James said at the time via the Associated Press. “It comes from them wanting to be really great, them winning the championship [in 2008], us wanting to win the championship and having to come through Boston to try to win it.”
Boston also defeated the Toronto Raptors 117-116 in overtime on the road on this date in 2015, a Marcus Smart buzzer-beater securing a rare victory on the Rap’s home court for the Celtics.
Point guard Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points on the night, center Tyler Zeller 20 points and 9 boards, and wing Evan Turner 18 points, 6 boards and 10 assists. Big man Kelly Olynyk also added 16 points off the bench.
“It’s just the will, the determination,” Smart said courtesy of the A.P.. “The guys on this team, we’re competitors, heavy competitors. We don’t like to lose that much, especially when we come off a night where we didn’t play that well.”
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