
Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) defends against Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, in Orlando, Fla.(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
The Magic finished this year with the best defense in the Eastern Conference despite playing without one of their best defenders (Jalen Suggs) for more than half the season due to injury. Orlando will have a valuable mix of size, strength and speed when they face off against the Celtics in Game 1 of their first round series on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.
“We expect Orlando to come out and play with great force,” Jaylen Brown said Saturday after practice. “They’re a good young team who’s hungry, so expect that intensity level. So I think setting your mind first for what you may need to be prepared for, and then once you do that, your body kind of follows suit. So just preparing mentally for a tough physical matchup, and taking it from there.”
The Celtics have the firepower to challenge Orlando from the perimeter, but there is another distinct area where the Magic can push to find the pressure point within the Magic’s defense. Orlando does almost everything well defensively by forcing a bunch of turnovers, rebounding well and keeping opponent’s field goal percentage down (along with attempts from 3-point range). However, they foul more than any other team in the postseason, ranking 29th in the NBA in defensive free throw rate this season.
The Celtics are not a team that depends on getting to the line (30th in NBA) but they have the talent that can do it with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis all averaging over 4.5 attempts per game. If the Magic are going to stick to Boston’s shooters, the Celtics will need to lean into that trio, forcing the issue and creating contact at the rim against mismatches.
Joe Mazzulla has leaned into those types of advantages throughout his postseason career, and the same should true starting Sunday afternoon for Boston.
“Everyone gets blinded by playoffs, adjustments, all that stuff,” Mazzulla said. “And at the end of the day, it comes down to the margins, it comes down to the process of winning. Every game is a little bit different depending upon those. If you get into a situation where you put these guys at the free throw line because of your own discipline, they’re extremely difficult to guard. You give them second chance opportunities, they’re extremely difficult to guard. If you don’t execute and you let them get out in transition, they’re very difficult to guard. So the majority of this comes down to the margins and the details and the physicality and with which you do it.”
Boston will also have the ability to push their size advantage down low by playing double big lineups against the Magic, who have opted not to play a traditional center off the bench recently. Leaning into that size could produce easy second chance and free throw opportunities among Boston bigs with the right personnel.
“Obviously they’re a physical team, they’re going to be big, they’re going to be handsy, and there are certain areas they’re good at,” Porzingis said this week. “So we just have to make sure we do our best on those departments and obviously we’re preparing for an opponent so we’re looking into what things they do well and try to be excellent in those things.”
The Celtics will put Orlando’s physical strategy to the test starting at TD Garden on Sunday afternoon.