Celtics stars Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis were all scuffling on offense, bothered by the gritty and physical Magic defense. So, soon after the third quarter began, Holiday stepped forward and reminded everyone why, prior to last season, he was the only player on this team with an NBA championship ring.

He played the entire period and drilled all three of his 3-point attempts, dished out four assists, and gobbled up two steals, helping the Celtics regain control and eventually coast to a 103-86 win.

“That’s the Jrue I love, you know what I mean?” Brown said. “That’s the Jrue I remember competing against. Regular season is different from the playoffs. I know sometimes you all forget that and think, like, it’s the regular season, but you can see his intensity level is a lot different. You can see his physicality is a lot different.”

Added Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla: “Sometimes he takes a back seat because of the type of guys that we have. I thought tonight, he put the team on his back from that passion and emotion standpoint, and that’s why Jrue Holiday is Jrue Holiday.”

There were some whispers in recent days that Orlando’s second-ranked defense could make this matchup more challenging for the Celtics than most expected. While Orlando mostly subdued Boston’s stars, the Celtics’ defense was most dominant.

The Magic scored just 18 points in the first and third quarters and 19 in the fourth, with Paolo Banchero (36 points) and Franz Wagner (23) left searching for assistance. No other Magic player scored more than seven.

“I think we always try to hang our hats on our defense,” Holiday said. “I think last year that’s what really propelled us, and this year throughout the season we’ve definitely seen moments of our defense being spectacular. So that’s something that throughout this whole series, our defense is really going to be able to get us there.”

Aside from Holiday’s third-quarter explosion, Derrick White carried Boston’s offense for most of the afternoon. He made 10 of 18 shots and 7 of 12 3-pointers for a team-high 30 points.

The burst was necessary with Tatum, Brown, and Porzingis combining to go just 1 for 12 from beyond the arc.

Tatum, who finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds, seemed aware that his long-range shot was not there and began to aggressively seek opportunities closer to the rim in the second half.

With 8:28 left in the fourth he ripped through the lane and went up for a two-handed dunk before Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr. met him in midair.

Caldwell-Pope grabbed Tatum’s arm, causing him to land awkwardly on his right wrist before tumbling into the stanchion. He clenched his wrist and stayed on the floor for about two minutes before walking to the bench.

Tatum stayed in and appeared to be bothered by wrist pain in the closing minutes, but he said X-rays were negative.

“It was throbbing for a second,” Tatum said. “Kind of went away.”

Brown, meanwhile, returned after missing the final three games of the regular season because of a lingering bone bruise in his right knee. When he played in recent weeks, he rarely displayed his usual above-the-rim athleticism.

But on Sunday he appeared to be moving well and even threw down one of his signature dunks. He was not deployed on Banchero or Wagner as often as he might have been if he was fully healthy, but he finished with 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting and submitted an encouraging performance overall.

“It took me a little bit to get into the game,” Brown said. “I feel like I was watching a little bit to start. Second half, I was able to get more involved, make some plays. Have some better activities.”

Payton Pritchard, who on Sunday was unsurprisingly named a finalist for the Sixth Man of the Year award, came off the bench and poured in 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting while also bothering the Magic with his ball pressure during Orlando’s 37-point second half.

After gobbling up 10 first-half offensive rebounds, the Magic mustered just three after the break.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.