BOS 113, ORL 108: Baylor Scheierman Drops 30 in BOS Win
Tommy Flanagan
Journeyman Electrician · Boston Celtics fan
Celtics Scrappy Win Masks a Disaster: Where the Hell Was Everyone?
Look, I'm gonna be straight with you. The Celtics won 113-108 last night, and as a die-hard green guy, that should feel great. Instead, I'm sitting here confused as hell because our entire starting five was basically a ghost story.
Jayson Tatum? Zero minutes. Jaylen Brown? Zero minutes. Derrick White, the All-Defensive guy? Zero. Payton Pritchard, our Sixth Man of the Year? Benched. Nikola Vučević? Nowhere to be found.
I don't have the injury report details, but something was clearly going on. And honestly, that might be the only reason this game matters for fantasy purposes at all, because what actually happened on the court was complete chaos.
Top Fantasy Performers
| Player | ESPN FP | Yahoo FP | Tonight | Season Avg | +/- Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor Scheierman | 59.0 | 54.9 | 30/7/7 | 5.2/3.4/1.4 | +24.8 |
| Ron Harper Jr. | 53.0 | 47.4 | 27/7/4 | 3.4/1.5/0.6 | +23.6 |
| Paolo Banchero | 33.0 | 45.5 | 23/10/11 | 22.2/8.4/5.1 | +0.8 |
| Luka Garza | 46.0 | 43.9 | 27/12/1 | 7.8/4.0/1.0 | +19.2 |
| Jalen Suggs | 41.0 | 36.7 | 23/6/3 | 13.6/3.8/5.5 | +9.4 |
| Franz Wagner | 26.0 | 28.3 | 20/4/1 | 20.6/5.2/3.4 | -0.6 |
| Jordan Walsh | 25.0 | 28.1 | 9/8/3 | 5.3/3.9/0.8 | +3.7 |
| Dalano Banton | 25.0 | 26.3 | 2/4/7 | 2.0/0.2/0.8 | +0.0 |
| John Tonje | 22.0 | 22.3 | 13/4/1 | 0.4/0.4/0.2 | +12.6 |
| Anthony Black | 23.0 | 22.1 | 13/3/1 | 15.0/3.8/3.7 | -2.0 |
Baylor Scheierman and Ron Harper Jr. Went Nuclear (And It's Never Happening Again)
Okay, so Baylor Scheierman absolutely cooked for 54.9 Yahoo points on 30/7/7. That's plus-24.8 from his season average. Ron Harper Jr. went for 47.4 on 27/7/4 with five threes. These numbers are absolutely insane.
But let me be real: this was a mirage created by a completely gutted Celtics roster. Scheierman is averaging 5.2 points per game for a reason. Harper Jr. is a 3.4 PPG bench guy. They got the minutes and opportunity because everyone else wasn't playing, and they took full advantage. That's cool, but it's not the scouting report going forward.
If you added them off waivers thinking you found hidden gems, I get it. The stat lines look real. But the moment Tatum and Brown are back, these guys go straight back to crumbs.
Luka Garza: The Real Story
Now Luka Garza, that's worth discussing. 27/12/1 for 43.9 Yahoo points, plus-19.2 from average. He's a 7.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG guy normally, so jumping to 27 and 12 is real production, not just opportunity-based fluff.
Garza shot 10-18 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. That's efficiency. If the Celtics are running him more minutes going forward (he went 38 minutes), he might be someone worth having on your bench in deeper leagues. But again, depends entirely on what's happening with the main guys.
Magic Side: Paolo Did Work, But Still Took the L
Paolo Banchero put up 23/10/11 for 45.5 Yahoo points. That's actually close to his season norm (he's a 22.2/8.4/5.1 guy), so he was just being Paolo. The assists were up, which matters, but he also shot 7-22. When you're putting up that volume on mediocre efficiency and your team still loses by five, you're not really crushing it. You're just playing.
Jalen Suggs was the one who actually played well for Orlando, going for 36.7 Yahoo points on 23/6/3 with seven threes. Plus-9.4 from average. Clean shooting night, and it mattered, but it wasn't enough.
The Bottom Line for Your Roster
If you have any of the Celtics starters, don't panic. This was a weird game with weird circumstances. The fact that they won without any of their All-NBA guys is actually a good sign, not a reason to start shopping them around.
If you somehow grabbed Scheierman or Harper Jr. off waivers last night thinking you were a genius, enjoy the points and then move on. When the real Celtics show up, these guys go back to being end-of-bench filler.
On the Magic side, Suggs is worth keeping an eye on. He's a solid young guard and last night he played like it. Banchero is what he is: a high-volume scorer who will give you points but might frustrate you with the efficiency and turnovers.
One more thing: the fact that Desmond Bane only got 17 minutes and went 3-8 is exactly why you shouldn't get cute trying to pick up guys mid-game based on scoring. Bane's still a solid player in real life, but from a fantasy perspective, limited minutes change everything.