Let’s face it: the Orlando Magic are simply not talented or deep enough to truly threaten the defending champion Boston Celtics in the opening round of these playoffs.
But that doesn’t mean they’re going to be an easy out, either.
Led by young stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, the East’s seventh seed has given Boston all it can handle in two competitive setbacks at TD Garden to begin the series. Where they lack in depth and experience, the Magic make up for it by playing hard-nosed, physical — and effective — defense, trash talking, and competing until the final buzzer with the belief that they can win.
Some of their players — see Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (KCP) — may be teetering on the edge of dirty, without necessarily crossing the line.
In Boston’s Game 1 win, Al Horford — a normally soft-spoken, well respected veteran who’s become somewhat of a playoff enforcer for the C’s — didn’t take kindly to a slew of hard fouls by KCP. The 32-year-old Magic guard was at it again in Wednesday’s 109-100 Game 2 Celtics victory, extending his leg for a questionable trip on Horford in the second quarter.
“Yeah, it was,” Horford told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe when asked if he thought Caldwell-Pope’s trip was intentional. “I was starting to run on the break and he got into me there and impeded my progress.”
KCP shot just 1-for-9 from the field, 0-for-6 from deep and finished with three measly points, which undoubtedly could’ve led to his frustration.
Later on in the action, Kristaps Porzingis took an “inadvertent” elbow to the forehead from Magic back-up center Goga Bitadze, who was assessed a flagrant foul for the play. With blood streaming down his face, Porzingis was patched up before swiftly returning to action while sporting a smile from ear to ear as he egged on the home crowd.
“I love my WWE moments for sure,” said Porzingis. “I always love engaging with the crowd and I already knew like getting hit again, blood again, the crowd was gonna go with it.”
There were certainly other instances throughout the first two postseason contests in which players from the two sides clashed.
Bottom line: anytime Orlando has done something to try to get under Boston’s skin, the Celtics have responded. Yes, they’ve had a sea of green and white diehards to back them up over the first two games, too, a luxury Porzingis and his teammates won’t have as the series shifts to Florida for two straight.
Regardless, Boston’s biggest adversary in Round 1 has unquestionably been Orlando’s grit, tenacity and fearless approach. It’s an opponent that almost certainly would’ve given the Celtics of old real issues — think 2023 Miami Heat.
But now that Boston has summitted the proverbial mountain top by bringing home the franchise’s 18th championship banner last June, they know better than to let an inferior team “punk” them — Porzingis’s words, not mine — in their quest to repeat.
Even without the services of MVP candidate Jayson Tatum in Game 2, Boston seized a commanding 2-0 series lead despite narrowly cracking the century mark on the scoreboard for the second time in as many games. They survived another offensive onslaught from Banchero (32 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks) and Wagner (25 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) by dominating the glass (46-34 edge in rebounds), generating good looks in crunch time and knocking them down with confidence.
Jaylen Brown bounced back from a lackluster Game 1 by dropping a game-high 36 points (12-for-19 shooting) to go with 10 boards and five assists. Derrick White (17 points) hit some clutch jumpers, Porzingis (20 points, 10 boards, 2 blocks) got the line at will, making 10 of his 14 shots from the stripe, and Payton Pritchard was once again key off the bench with three triples and 14 points.
With more offensive and defensive weapons at their disposal, the Celtics aren’t just the better team on paper; they’ve proven to be equally as tough, too.
And even with its home crowd behind them for Friday and Sunday’s decisive tilts, Orlando is going to have its hands full against a championship driven Boston squad.
Nick Giannino covers the Boston Celtics for CNHI Sports Boston. Contact him at NGiannino@nobmg.com