Jaylen Brown scores 36 as Celtics beat Magic 109-100 without Jayson Tatum

BOSTON (AP) — As it became evident that All-Star Jayson Tatum would have to sit out Game 2 of the Celtics' first-round playoff series against the Orlando Magic, Jaylen Brown wanted Boston coach Joe Mazzulla to know something.

“He came in saying he was going to do everything it takes to win,” Mazzulla said.

Brown came through on that promise. And his teammates followed his lead.

Brown had 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Kristaps Porzingis returned to the game after getting a bloody gash to the forehead and finished with 20 points, and the Celtics beat the Magic 109-100 on Wednesday night.

Boston took a 2-0 series lead while playing without Tatum, who has a bone bruise in his right wrist and missed a playoff game for the first time in his career.

“Obviously, JT is the offensive leader, and we play off of him,” Brown said. "But any given night I can rise to the occasion.”

Boston led by 15 points in the second half, then held off a late push by Orlando. The Celtics hit 12 3-pointers and went 25 of 33 from the free-throw line. Derrick White and Brown had 17 of Boston's 28 points in the final period; White finished with 17.

“He was leading us on both ends,” Porzingis said of Brown. “He was being JB.”

“You just trust that mindset, really the warrior mentality that he has,” Mazzulla said. “He can take it to another level mentally and physically.”

Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 32 points and nine rebounds. Franz Wagner scored 25 points.

“They came out of the locker room and went on a run. We had trouble coming back from that," Banchero said.

Game 3 is Friday night at Orlando.

Tatum had not missed a playoff game in his eight seasons with Boston. He injured his wrist in Game 1 after landing awkwardly following a flagrant foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Clad in street clothes, he joined his team prior to tipoff and sat at the end of the bench.

Mazzulla characterized Tatum’s status as day to day.

Caldwell-Pope was booed nearly every time he touched the ball in the aftermath of his Game 1 foul on Tatum, which the Celtics' Al Horford later characterized as excessive.

Tempers flared between Caldwell-Pope and Horford when their feet got tangled up and and sent both crashing to the floor at the 4:42 mark of the second quarter.

Brown then exchanged words with Caldwell-Pope. Referees reviewed the the play and determined it was a common tripping foul on Caldwell-Pope.

Then, late in the third quarter, Porzingis went to the locker room with a gash to his forehead but returned in time to shoot a pair of free throws after taking an elbow from Goga Bitadze. The play was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant foul on Bitadze.

During the review, Porzingis emerged to a loud ovation, with dried blood streaking down the back of his head and a bandage on the center of his forehead. He re-entered the game and connected on one of his two free throws before exiting again.

Porzingis returned to the bench area midway through the period and came back into the game with 7:15 left. He said he got five stitches to close the wound.

“I love my WWE moments,” Porzingis said. “We’re not going to get let anybody punk us. We expect teams to do this kind of stuff. ... We’re not surprised. But we’re not going to take it. We’re going to hit them right back.”

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New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, left, applauds while seated with team owner Robert Kraft during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) is fouled by Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black (0) during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) drives to the basket against Boston Celtics center Luke Kornet, right, during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, right, battles for a loose ball against Orlando Magic guard Gary Harris, left, during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) blocks a shot by Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) drives to the basket against Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday (4) during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who is sidelined with an injury, gets a pat on the back from center Al Horford during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who is sidelined with an injury, stands near the bench with his wrist wrapped during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series against the Orlando Magic, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) grabs a rebound against Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, right, during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

With his head bandaged after an injury, Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) is congratulated by fans after defeating the Orlando Magic in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) takes a shot while pressured by Orlando Magic guard Cory Joseph (10) during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)