Since the Boston Celtics finished the regular season with the third-best record in the NBA, the team got to sit back and relax while others began desperately clawing for a last-minute playoff entry through the play-in tournament.
First up, the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.
Both teams fought for a chance to secure the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference along with a first-round date against the reigning champion Celtics, starting Sunday at TD Garden for Game 1. Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and the Magic took care of business and defeated Trae Young’s Hawks, 120-95, to lock up their greatest challenge yet. Banchero and Wagner, two of the league’s ascending stars, have worked to get Orlando back in the contender’s circle over the past few seasons.
They’ve also given the Celtics some trouble along the way. Banchero and Wagner combined for 40 points to upset Boston in last season’s inaugural NBA Cup, signaling the threat Orlando could pose in the future. This season, the Magic won two of their three matchups against the Celtics, although the regular-season series decider saw Boston sit its entire starting lineup last Wednesday. So that meant nothing.
If anything, it’s Boston’s series to lose. The Celtics are the title defenders. They have the experience. They have the crew capable of beating anyone thrown at them. Boston has the home-court advantage and led the NBA with 33 wins on the road — one shy of tying the league’s all-time record. Not to mention, the team isn’t stepping away from its any-team-can-win-any-day mindset either.
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“The challenge presents itself like any other time,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters at Tuesday’s practice, per CLNS Media. “It’s making sure we find the balance of working on the things that we have to work on as a team and once we figure out our opponent, understand what they’re great at. Either opponent presents a lot of challenges and be ready for that, and at the same time, keep a perspective of the things that go into winning, no matter the point of the year, are the same thing: The fundamentals, the margins, the process of winning.”
The Celtics led all teams this past season in 3-pointers made (17.8) per game, and ranked second in defensive rating (119.5), points allowed (107.2) and net rating (9.4). Similar to the banner-raising squad of last season, Boston also didn’t lose more than twice consecutively, something that hasn’t happened since Mazzulla’s debut at the helm.
Orlando, on the other hand, finished 41-41 in the regular season and underperformed with a 12-25 record against teams over .500. The Magic ranked third-to-last in points (105.4), 27th in field-goal percentage (44.5%) and dead-last in 3-point percentage (31.8%).
That still won’t take away from what the opportunity means for Banchero, the first overall pick from the 2022 NBA Draft.
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Banchero, a fellow Duke alum like Jayson Tatum, has been on the Boston star’s radar for quite some time now. Banchero previously spoke about his Blue Devil brotherhood with Tatum, along with his admiration for the six-time All-Star, which dates back years before he followed in Tatum’s footsteps and joined Duke.
“The first time I met JT was actually in Boston,” Banchero told reporters at All-Star Weekend, per CLNS Media. “We played Boston College when I was at Duke. He came to the game, watched the game and then came in the locker room and said, ‘What’s up,’ and that was the first time meeting him. But he had reached out before that. … Since then, he’s just been a guy who I can always reach out to for any advice, on the court, off the court. Now we play against each other and we’re in the league together, so he’s a guy who I’ve watched since I was in middle school, high school.”
Boston hasn’t crossed paths with Orlando in the playoffs since the 2010 Eastern Conference finals when Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen punched their second NBA Finals ticket under the “Big Three” regime.
Featured image via Bob DeChiara/Imagn Images
