Boston Celtics will play Orlando Magic in first round of NBA Playoffs. Here's the schedule.
The Boston Celtics will face the Orlando Magic in the first round of the NBA playoffs, after the Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in tournament Tuesday night to claim the 7-seed in the Eastern Conference. Game 1 of the Celtic-Magic series will be Sunday at TD Garden.
The Celtics head into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the East after a 61-21, and are among the favorites to win it all this summer. Boston is looking to become the NBA's first back-to-back champion since the Golden State Warriors won two straight titles in 2017 and 2018. It's been 56 years since the Celtics have raised banners in back to back seasons.
The Celtics are determined to finish the season with another title, and there's a lot to like about their chances. Jayson Tatum had his best all-around season for Boston. Kristaps Porzingis is healthy heading into the playoffs, and though Jaylen Brown is nursing a knee injury, he appears to be ready to go for the postseason. Jrue Holiday has found his form again, and Derrick White and Al Horford continue to fill crucial roles for Boston.
Boston's quest for greatness gets underway Sunday against a team that has given them some issues over the past three seasons. The Magic have the best defense in the NBA, so don't be surprised if Orlando steals a game -- potentially two -- in the opening round. But Orlando doesn't have the offensive firepower to keep up with Boston, so it should still be a quick series for the Celtics.
What to know about the Orlando Magic
The Magic finished the season 41-41, which was a step back after a 47-win campaign last season. But they were the best defensive team in the league, holding opponents to an NBA-low 105.5 points per game (Boston was second at 107.2 points allowed per game). Orlando's 109.1 defensive rating was second only to Oklahoma City, with the Thunder sporting a 106.6 defensive rating.
The Magic are good defending the three-ball too, holding opponents to 36.5 percent from downtown during the regular season. They held the Celtics to just 29.1 percent from three in three regular-season meetings.
Offensively, Orlando had the NBA's slowest pace (96.51), so the Magic love to slow things down and make it a slugfest on the defensive end. But with a real lack of firepower, the Magic had the 27th-ranked offense, scoring just 105.4 points per game.
The Magic do have two impressive wing players that Boston has to deal with in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Banchero led Orlando with a career-best 25.9 points per game while hitting 45.2 percent of his shots this season. Wagner is a talented scorer too and averaged 24.2 points per game.
In his two games against the C's during the regular season, Banchero averaged only 18 points off 37.8 percent shooting, and he hit just 22.2 percent of his three-point tries. Wagner scored 23 points in his only game against Boston, when he hit nine of his 17 shots, but that came against Celtics backups.
Celtics vs. Magic playoff schedule
Game 1: Magic @ Celtics, Sunday, April 20 at 3:30pm
Game 2: Magic @ Celtics, Wednesday, April 23 at 7pm
Game 3: Celtics @ Magic, Friday, April 25 at 7pm
Game 4: Celtics @ Magic, Sunday, April 27 at 7pm
Game 5: Magic @ Celtics, Tuesday, April 29 at TBD*
Game 6: Celtics @ Magic, Thursday, May 1 at TBD*
Game 7: Magic @ Celtics, Saturday, May 3 at TBD*
*If necessary
Celtics vs. Magic regular season
While the Celtics were one of three NBA teams to win 60 or more games this season, they won only one of their three matchups against the Magic. Orlando has given the Celtics some fits over the last three years, winning six of their last nine meetings.
It should be noted that Jayson Tatum didn't play in either of Boston's losses to the Magic, and one of those two defeats came last week when Mazzulla sat his top six players in Orlando.
The Magic won the first matchup, 108-104, on Dec. 23 in Orlando. The Celtics held a 15-point lead at halftime, but Orlando erased it with a 36-21 third quarter and took a 10-point lead in the fourth. Boston came back and cut it to a one-point game in the final minute, but Tristan da Silva hit a three with 9.9 seconds remaining to seal the win for the Magic.
The Celtics won their only game of the regular-season series on Jan. 17 at TD Garden, with Tatum's 30 points leading the team to a 121-94 victory. Boston knocked down 17 of its 37 threes in the game.
Every Celtics starter, plus Al Horford, sat when Boston visited Orlando on April 9, and the Magic won that game, 96-76. In addition to Wagner's 23 points, Banchero scored 15 and dished out six assists, while Cole Anthony added 18 points off the bench for Orlando.
Tatum was Boston's leading scorer against the Magic thanks to his one 30-point night, but Brown was up there too at 27.5 points per game over two matchups. He also averaged 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in those two contests, while shooting 48.8 percent from the floor.
While the Celtics shot just 29.1 percent from three against the Magic, they did hit 45.1 percent from the floor overall.
Celtics vs. Magic in NBA Playoffs
This will be the fourth time Boston and Orlando meet in the playoffs, and the first time since 2010. Orlando has won two of the three previous playoff series between the two teams, and is 9-8 overall against Boston in the playoffs.
The Celtics were victorious the last time these two teams danced in the postseason, with the Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett-Ray Allen Big 3 winning the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals in six games.
The Magic got the better of the Celtics the year before that, winning their 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinal showdown in seven games. Garnett was hurt for Boston, but the Celtics had a 3-2 series lead before the Magic ripped off two straight victories. Orlando won Game 7 in Boston, 101-82, to win the series.
The Celtics and the Magic had their first postseason showdown in the first round of the 1995 playoffs, which Orlando won 3-1.
