Joe Mazzulla quickly shut down any notion that was the case.

The Celtics simply ran out of time to fix an ending they should have seen coming from a mile away, Boston losing 108-104.

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Jaylen Brown scored 35 points on Monday, but the Jayson-Tatum-less Celtics dropped a surprising loss to a short-handed but hard-nosed Magic team, falling 108-104. Here are the takeaways. Where should we even start trying to explain how the game ended?

Tristan da Silva scored 18 points and made a critical 3-pointer with 9.9 seconds left, and the Orlando Magic rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit for a 108-104 victory over the Boston Celtics, who were missing Jayson Tatum because of an illness.

the Orlando Magic have their eyes set on achieving another amazing feat before the holiday break. The shorthanded Magic (18-12) are looking to stack another memorable win under their Christmas tree when they take on the defending champion Boston Celtics ...

Then the third quarter happened, the Magic ramped up their defense, the Celtics couldn’t even get off consistent 3-pointers and then their late rally fell short.

Jaylen Brown didn't seem thrilled with how the officials called the game in the Celtics' loss to the Magic on Monday night.

The Celtics were able to build a 15-point lead at halftime largely thanks to their defense but that advantage evaporated in the third quarter. Orlando got red-hot with their shot in the frame, knocking down 60 percent of their attempts and all seven of their free throws as they erased Boston’s lead entirely.

Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis and Magic guard Jalen Suggs got in each other's faces and exchanged words in the fourth quarter, The situation escalated when Orlando big man Goga Bitadze grabbed Porzingis near the throat and both sides needed to be held back.