The Boston Celtics were counted out this season with the long-term injury to Jayson Tatum.

Prior to his return last month, the team had done more than enough to be in contention for a playoff spot and a deep run in the Eastern Conference.

Fast forward a few weeks and the Celtics are the 2-seed in the East and now await their first-round opponent in a series that begins on Sunday.

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Baylor Scheierman, who played at South Dakota State for three seasons of his college career, is one of the best bench players on the team.

He had a bigger opportunity on Sunday, and he definitely met the moment:

Baylor Scheierman scored a career-high 30 points, Luka Garza added 27, including a key 3-pointer with 31.6 seconds left, and the Boston Celtics’ reserves defeated Orlando 113-108 on Sunday night, sending the Magic into a road play-in tournament game.

The Magic (45-37) had won five straight and seemed ready to lock up a home game as the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed before the loss. They entered tied with Toronto for sixth, but fell to eighth and will face Philadelphia.

Boston sat eight of its regular rotation players, including stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Playing most of the season without Tatum, who was recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, the Celtics (56-26) turned in a better-than-expected season by earning the East’s No. 2 seed.

Wendell Carter Jr’s free throw cut Boston’s lead to 108-105 with 1:37 remaining and Suggs’ right-wing 3 tied it before Garza collected a pass off an in-bounds, turned and hit his 3-pointer.

The Celtics led 101-85 early in the final quarter before the Magic cut the deficit to five points on Banchero’s layup with just under four minutes left.

Mainly behind Harper and Scheierman, Boston’s reserves hung around early, falling behind by double digits midway into the second quarter and then rallying behind a 3-point shooting barrage (9 of 16) in the third quarter to outscore the Magic 42-20 in the period and open a 94-81 lead.

The Celtics hit four 3-pointers in a 1:48 span — two by Scheierman — during a 12-2 spurt that pulled them ahead.

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This season, Scheierman's role has grown exponentially in Boston. His minutes have increased from 12.4 to 18.6 per game this season, and he's shown tremendous growth in every statistical category.

His 20 starts this season rank 7th on the team, and he's appeared in the 3rd most games among all Celtics players.

In his college career between South Dakota State (2019-22) and Creighton (2022-24), Scheierman averaged 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He was the 2021-22 Summit League Player of the Year while at SDSU.

The Boston Celtics are the 2-seed in the Eastern Conference and will await the winner of Wednesday's play-in contest between the 76ers and Magic. The first game of that series will be Sunday at 12:00 on ABC.

Source: Celtics 113-108 Magic (Apr 12, 2026) Game Recap - ESPN