Jaylen Brown, Celtics ready for a fight with Magic if flagrant fouls continue
The Boston Celtics knew the Orlando Magic were going to be a tough first-round opponent. And if they need to fight -- literally fight -- to get into the second round, so be it.
You'd expect such a statement to come from head coach Joe Mazzulla, who is wired very differently from other NBA coaches. But after Friday night's bloodbath of a 95-93 loss in Orlando, it was Jaylen Brown who said the Celtics might have to choose violence the rest of the way against the Magic.
"I don't know. There might be a fight breaking out or something. Because it's starting to feel like it's not even basketball, and the refs aren't controlling their environment," Brown said after the loss. "It is what it is. If we want to fight it out, we can do that. We can fight to see who goes to the second round."
The Celtics lead the Magic 2-1 in the set, but they left the Kia Center battered and bruised Friday night. Jayson Tatum returned after his one-game absence with the wrist injury he suffered in Game 1 (thanks to a flagrant foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope), but now Brown is dinged up after a Magic takedown. He said after the game he dislocated his left index finger when Orlando's Cole Anthony took him down by his arm early in the second quarter.
"I got nine more, so I'm alright," he said.
Anthony was assessed a Flagrant 1 for the takedown. It was Orlando's third flagrant in as many games this series.
The fouls came early and often from the Magic, who committed 11 in the first half and 23 for the game. The series has been chippy from the jump thanks to Orlando's aggressive and occasionally borderline dirty defense. The Celtics have been able to answer that physicality with their stellar offense and ball movement, but that dried up on them Friday night.
The Celtics let the Magic -- and the refs -- get to them, and it had a trickle down effect everywhere on the floor.
"Definitely was a physical game," said Brown. "They got away with a lot. When you get away with it, I would do it too. We'll be ready for Game 4."
We'll see if an actual basketball game is played Sunday night in Orlando, or if Game 4 will be a fight night for the Celtics and the Magic. Boston should still win this series, but they better close things out quickly against this gritty and hostile Orlando team.
If the Magic are going to go down, they're going to go down swinging -- or in this case pulling down elbows and arms.
What happened to the Celtics in Game 3?
Tatum led the way with 36 points in his return and Brown added 19 for Boston. But Tatum was just 4-of-10 from three-point land, and committed seven turnovers. Brown turned the ball over six times.
Turnovers absolutely killed the Celtics, who coughed it up 19 times in Game 3. They did so in just about every way possible. Boston had a pair of costly shot clock violations, and Tatum was whistled for a carrying violation. Six of Boston's turnovers happened in the third quarter, when the Celtics scored just 11 points. That dreadful quarter marked a season-low for points from the Boston offense.
The Celtics were outscored 46-34 overall in the second half, when they allowed the Magic to pull down nine of their 15 offensive rebounds. Orlando scored 16 second-chance points, and got 26 points off Boston's turnovers in Game 3. It's incredible the Celtics only lost by two points.
Boston still had chances later in the game despite the poor play in the second half. The Celtics just didn't execute in the face of Orlando's physicality, and the brain cramps came from everywhere on the floor.
In a big miscue by Mazzulla, Brown picked up his fifth foul with 4:07 left and didn't check back in until there was only 48 seconds left on the clock with Boston down by four. The Celtics still had a chance when they got the ball back down two with 0.3 seconds remaining, but Derrick White's inbound prayer was tipped away harmlessly by the Magic.
The Magic defense did a great job keeping the Celtics off the three-point line, as Boston attempted just 27 shots from downtown. It was 10 fewer than the Celtics attempted in both of the first two games, and they only connected on nine of those threes Friday night.
Kristaps Porzingis needs to find his game
Porzingis had the roughest night of all Boston players, finishing with just seven points off 3-of-10 shooting. He missed all three of his three-point attempts, and is now 0-of-10 from downtown for the series.
"My shot is feeling a little junky right now. Not going to lie," he said after the loss. "But I have to keep shooting, what else am I going to do? But it stings, man. I have to take accountability. I played like [crap]. We still had an opportunity to win. We'll get together and correct some of our mistakes."
Porzingis is a massive X-factor for the Celtics, but he looked lost for most of his 34 minutes on the court Friday night. He's shooting just 28 percent (9-of-32) over the first three games.
Boston is going to need their Unicorn big man to find his shot in Game 4, which will tip off at 7 p.m. Sunday night in Orlando.
