On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team snapped the Orlando Magic’s 51-game home winning streak in 1996 — an NBA record at the time — with a 100-98 victory on the road. Orlando had not lost a home game to an opponent since April of 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 big man 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,” he added.