6 takeaways as Celtics fall to Magic in Robert Williams’ return 

But maybe Williams’ best play was an assist midway through the fourth quarter. Williams took a pocket pass from Derrick White under the rim and instead of rising up and trying to dunk on Terrence Ross, he whipped a pass to a wide-open Malcolm Brogdon in the right corner. Brogdon buried the triple.

Williams is going to help the Celtics in myriad ways — his vertical spacing will make Jayson Tatum’s work easier, and his rim protection will help the Celtics’ defenders. But importantly, he also can help the Celtics maintain their identity as a team that moves the ball and finds open shooters. He’s a great passer who makes instant decisions extremely well.

“He’s a great team leader, a great player who works hard, so we’re definitely excited for him to come back,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I’m just happy that he was able to feel comfortable out there and we’ll find ways for him to be effective just because of how hard he plays and what he brings to the table.”

The Celtics may have “f—ing lost,” but if Williams can stay healthy and contribute positively in the near future, they will rectify their slip-up quickly. Williams makes the best team in the NBA significantly better.

2. Now on to the problems.

We will start with Jaylen Brown’s ball-handling, which deserted him entirely. Brown turned the ball over seven times. Four were live-ball turnovers that were stolen from him, including a brutal attempt at a behind-the-back pass in transition right before halftime which could have cut the Celtics’ deficit to four if he finished it off. Instead, the turnover led to a Mo Wagner dunk, which boosted the lead to eight before the break. Brown also traveled twice and stepped on the sideline once in the second half.

Brown needs to be significantly better. He’s an All-NBA candidate because of his high-level scoring and efficiency (as well as the Celtics’ record), but his 12.3 percent turnover percentage is 48th percentile, and he’s averaging just 3.6 assists with 3.0 turnovers per game — high numbers, even considering his 96th percentile usage rate.

3. The Celtics lost despite 31 points on 9-for-20 shooting by Jayson Tatum. He shot 11-for-12 from the free-throw line, which made Friday’s game the first time this season he shot nine or more free throws in a loss. The Celtics had been 11-0 prior.

Tatum also picked up a technical, but as he pointed out, he has been significantly better in that department this year. A reporter asked what he said to be given the technical.

“A lot,” Tatum admitted. “I asked for it though. I mean, give me some credit. I’ve only got two techs on the year. 28 games or something. I was due for one.”

4. As a team, the Celtics shot an abysmal 11-for-46 from behind the arc. After their historic start, they have shot 30.7 percent from deep in their last five games and 35.9 percent as a whole.

“If you’re open, you’ve got to shoot it,” Mazzulla said. “And we’re open, so I’m not going to tell someone who’s open not to shoot it. They have to have the confidence to shoot it, and then you just got to shoot it. As long as you’re getting quality looks, I think it’s important…

“When we don’t shoot well, we have to find other areas to affect the game and that starts with our defense. And then when our defense is great, we can get out in early transition and get some easy baskets, but they can’t pass up open shots.”

Tatum added that the Celtics — who had the NBA’s best defense last season — need to be able to win when they can’t find their shooting.

“We was just guarding them too low,” Tatum said. “We have a bunch of great defenders — we have to guard them outside the three. I think we were just too low. Even guys that aren’t necessarily great shooters, they still can make shots when given that much space.”

5. Al Horford, of all people, was ejected in the third quarter for a flagrant-2 foul.

A closer look showed exactly why.