Jaylen Brown, Celtics Impress NBA Fans with Game 2 Win vs. Magic with Jayson Tatum Out

The Boston Celtics didn't have Jayson Tatum on Wednesday night. They still had Jaylen Brown though.

And that proved to be plenty enough to defeat the Orlando Magic, 109-100, and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Playoffs first-round series.

Brown was fantastic, putting up 36 points and 10 rebounds, while Kristaps Porziņģis added 20 points and 10 boards.

Paolo Banchero (32 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) and Franz Wagner (25 points) were once again a two-man band for the Magic.

While the series will now turn to Orlando, where the Magic will make their last stand, Wednesday's performance without Tatum had fans and pundits feeling pretty confident in Brown and the Celtics going forward:

The one concern for Boston on the night was Porziņģis catching an inadvertent elbow from Goga Bitadze in the third quarter, leaving him with a bloody forehead.

Porziņģis did return in the fourth quarter.

It's hard to blame the Magic too much for dropping a game against the Tatum-less Celtics, given that they were on the road and without a key player of their own in Jalen Suggs, who is out for the season after requiring arthroscopic surgery on his left knee back in March.

Still, Orlando had a window to even the series without Tatum available due to a bone bruise in his right wrist but couldn't capitalize. Returning home will help, but at this point the Celtics are trending toward a sweep.

And given that Tatum is day-to-day with his injury, it's very possible he'll be available for Friday's Game 3. The Magic, at this point, don't appear equipped to beat a full-strength Celtics.