2 weeks Ago
ORLANDO, Fla. – After a grueling 82-game gauntlet, a team's arrival in the NBA playoffs is often the result of the efforts of the collective. This year's Orlando Magic, weathering the storm of several injuries to key contributors to earn the East's No.
7 seed, are a first-rate example of that phenomenon. But on the postseason's bigger stage with brighter lights and the eyes of the world watching, outcomes can hinge more severely on star power. In Orlando's first-round matchup with the No.
2-seed Boston Celtics, there should be no lack of it. More: Full Magic-Celtics series schedule Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown – standing 6-8 and 6-6, respectively – are the household names who lead Boston's charge as it seeks to follow a 64-win, 18th-banner-earning campaign with a repeat defense this postseason. The Celtics feature plenty of surrounding support, but whether or not Boston can again lift the Larry O'Brien trophy will heavily involve the Jays.
On Orlando's side, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, in the eyes of some, stand as the taller, younger frontcourt pairing with some international flair on their own path to stardom. Each stands 6-foot-10 and is growing (in skill) on either side of the ball, but they've already established themselves as the Magic's cornerstones going forward. Does that then mean Orlando and Boston are more similar than one would think? The answer received depends on who you ask around the Magic's facility.
"They've got a lot of guys on the team, but they have two main guys, and we've got two big dogs on our team as well," veteran guard Gary Harris said when asked about potential congruencies between the Magic and Celtics. "We're just trying to figure out how to knock them off their rhythm." No question, both Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla and Magic coach Jamahl Mosley will have had limiting one another's star players top of mind all week long.
When Mosley was posed the same question as Harris after Friday's practice, he, too, noted each team's game-changing wings and praised their size, positional versatility and physicality. Second-year guard Anthony Black was in lockstep. "Just with the way our wings play and with the way their wings play," Black said.
"Four of, probably, the best players in the league ...
Our team is built similar in ways." Yet, it was Banchero himself who held a dissenting opinion on the matter. "No, not really," Banchero said before being asked to elaborate why and let know of the variance in his answer to that of his teammates and coach.
"I'd be interested to know why they say that. I think we are a different team than them. I think we have a lot different playstyle than them on both sides of the ball, so yeah, I'm not sure why anyone would say that.
" To Banchero's point, few statistics suggest Orlando and Boston are more identical than not. The Magic finished with the league's second-best defensive rating (109.1) while the Celtics' defense was fourth-best (110.
1), and offensively, Orlando and Boston brought up the rear for the NBA in pace (Magic 30th, Celtics 29th). Start noting the differences, however, and Banchero's point becomes more clear. The Celtics paired their top-4 defense with the NBA's second-best offensive rating (119.
5), which was built on a barrage of three-point attempts. Boston shattered the NBA record for attempted treys per game – 48.2 3PA, Houston's 45.
3 3PA per game in 2018-19 was previous mark – and led the league in makes at 17.8 per contest. The Celtics were the only team in the league this season to attempt more than half of their shots from three.
Orlando's 11.2 nightly made triples were the fewest in the NBA, and their 31.8 percent accuracy from deep was the worst since the 17-win, 2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers.
The Magic finished with a bottom-third offensive rating for the 13th consecutive year. Boston's assist-to-turnover ratio was fourth-best, Orlando's fifth-worst. The Celtics got the NBA's smallest percentage of points from the free throw line, while the Magic led the league in the category.
One could tire themselves counting the variance in team statistics, but individual numbers tell a story, too. Perhaps no team relied on its two stars as heavily as Orlando, which was the only team in the league with two players in the top nine in regular-season usage rate (min. 41 games played).
Banchero's 33.0 mark was fourth-most, and Wagner's 30.6 was ninth.
In contrasting fashion, Tatum was 10th (30.1), and Jaylen Brown was 23rd (28.2).
Banchero and Wagner combined to average 50.1 points, but none of their other still-healthy teammates cracked double figures in the scoring column nightly. Tatum and Brown's 49 average combined points was supplanted by four more double-digit scorers: Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Jrue Holiday.
Here's the point in all of this: the Magic could be on a similar trajectory to the Celtics year-over-year. Boston grew with Tatum and Brown and worked tirelessly to surround them with the correct personnel and scheme that got the very best out of them. The result has been a dominant two-year stretch, where they've won 125 of 164 regular-season games, didn't let a single seven-game series didn't go longer than five games en route to their title, and is back again to threaten history.
And, while Boston is led by their two main stars, it can survive an off night from one, or in rare instances both, because of their beyond-the-arc onslaught and team-wide offensive freedom. The Magic, on the other hand, need the best out of Banchero and Wagner every night on top of some helping hand from their supporting cast. Even then, their inability to hit threes at the rate of their opponent could create what becomes an insurmountable math problem.
Orlando and Boston figure to clash styles all series long. For the Magic to pull the upset, they'll have to overcome the Celtics' strengths that wore so many opponents down. Related Stories on the Orlando Magic AN UNLIKELY FLOOR-RAISER: Neither Cory Joseph nor the Magic likely envisioned the 14-year veteran starting at PG in the playoffs.
But Joseph, who wants to repay the Magic organization for their belief in him, has "elevated" Orlando's efforts. CLICK HERE ORLANDO EXPECTS 'HECK OF A SERIES': The Magic are looking forward to a great challenge and a greater opportunity to end a dominant two-year run for the 18-time, defending champs. CLICK HERE MAGIC RESERVES ANSWER CALL: How the Magic's supporting cast around Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner potentially found a playoff formula in Tuesday's Play-In win vs.
Atlanta. CLICK HERE DEFENSE BACK IN TOP FORM: Orlando's late-season turnaround was fueled by playing to their standard of defense. CLICK HERE PROGRESS SLOW FOR SUGGS: The Magic guard expects to be ready for the 2025-26 season.
But, he said, progress is slow for now. And that's okay. CLICK HERE AB READY FOR LATE-SEASON MOMENTS: Reliance this late in the year is exactly what Anthony Black wants.
CLICK HERE Want more Orlando Magic coverage on Sports Illustrated? Follow ' Orlando Magic on SI ' on Facebook and like our page. Follow Magic beat reporter Mason Williams on Twitter/X @mvsonwilliams . Also, bookmark our homepage so you never miss a story.
.
