With a painful road loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday afternoon, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics dropped their record for the 2023-24 NBA season to a still-impressive 12-4. Tatum did everything he could to help guide the undermanned Celtics offense in the absence of point guard Jrue Holiday, and with Kristaps Porzingis departing the game early due to injury, but Orlando pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 113-96 victory.

Following the victory, Tatum praised the Magic, who are led by power forward Paolo Banchero and are on a six-game winning streak.

“They are a good team,” Tatum added, according to Fawzan Amer of The Sixth Man Show. “Excellent coaching… They have some talented players. They have some guys who compete, play hard, and play well together.”

On Friday afternoon, Orlando deserved all of Jayson Tatum’s compliments. This isn’t the first time the Celtics have struggled against Orlando in recent memory. Last year, the same concerns arose, including a two-game home mini-series against the Magic early in the 2022-23 season, in which Boston stunningly lost both games.

Given the ailments Boston was dealing with, Friday’s performance shouldn’t be reason for alarm, but the Celtics and their fans would like to see more from Jaylen Brown, who has suffered with inconsistency this season.

The Celtics’ next home game is against the Atlanta Hawks on November 26.