Celtics vs. Magic: Will Boston be tested early in repeat bid? Series keys, schedule and prediction

Yahoo

06-05-2025

The Eastern Conference's second-seeded Boston Celtics (61-21) will face the seventh-seeded Orlando Magic (41-41) in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. The two franchises have not met in the playoffs since the 2010 Eastern Conference finals, when Paul Pierce and Co. ousted Dwight Howard's Magic.
What we know about Boston
For starters, the Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship. And they brought just about everyone back, including the best six-man rotation in basketball. It was an expensive endeavor but a necessary one if they wanted to give themselves the best chance to defend a title (or, rather, "attack" their title defense). And they did.
As far as regular-season title defenses go, this was the best one since those Golden State Warriors of last decade, the team that won three titles in five straight trips to the NBA Finals. The Celtics are as battle-tested a roster as we have seen in some time, having reached six conference finals in the past eight years.
They have Jayson Tatum, who is better than ever, and ever was pretty damn good. He averaged 26.8 points (45/34/81 shooting splits), 8.7 rebounds and a career-high six assists per game and should finish top-four in the MVP race. He is essentially a point guard and a great one at 6-foot-9, if not taller, and he can score every which way. There really isn't anything he cannot do on the court, including on defense.
They have Jaylen Brown, the reigning Finals MVP. He was an All-Star again this season, averaging a 22-6-5 on 46/32/76 shooting splits. He can do almost everything Tatum can do and sometimes more, especially on defense. The concern now is his ailing right knee, as he reportedly received pain management injections. It has clearly been bothering him in recent weeks, though he insists he can play through this.
They have Derrick White and Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday and Al Horford, a collection of veterans, each as talented as the next. There is no weak link in the mix. Even Horford at 38 years old can hold his own on both ends of the floor. Add Payton Pritchard, the presumptive Sixth Man of the Year, to the mix, along with Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet, who know their roles, and this is as deep a team as the East has.
What we know about Orlando
It started well. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, two rising stars, drove a hot start. The defense rated as the East's best, sustaining an offense that could not generate points in the half-court. But the Magic had these two young swingmen, playing like All-NBA candidates, and with that they deserved our attention.
Weeks into the season Banchero tore his right abdomen muscle. And in a strange twist of fate Wagner tore his a month later. They would not play together again until late January, when the Magic, after their 15-7 start, were fighting at .500. The defense remained a top-five unit in the NBA, but that offense ... yuck. It was worse than everyone but the Washington Wizards, producing 1.07 points per possession.
In the meantime, Orlando lost Jalen Suggs, its third-best player, and Mo Wagner, one of its best rotational players, to season-ending injuries. Both are big losses. For as frenetic as Suggs can be on defense, he is a calming force on offense. When Banchero, Franz Wagner and Suggs played together, the Magic were +7.8 points per 100 possessions. Without him those same lineups are only marginally better than opponents.
Nobody could enjoy the increase in available touches more than Cole Anthony. He is unafraid, which gets him into as much trouble as he gets Orlando out of. The progress of Anthony Black in his second season has been a welcome development. His offense is inconsistent, too, a product of his age. Cory Joseph has not been a veteran answer to anyone's backcourt issues this decade, and Orlando has been no different.
When the Magic signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a hefty contract in the offseason, they envisioned him as the final piece to their puzzle, only it was never finished. It is hard to be a connector on a team that does not have all of its pieces to connect. KCP made it harder still, shooting below league average.
Wendell Carter Jr. remained a constant in the frontcourt. Jonathan Isaac is a defensive menace there. It is the offense that cannot get unstuck from the mud. Without a dynamic two-way guard and without a go-to option at center, too much is placed on Banchero's and Wagner's shoulders. Since neither can shoot (a combined 28.4% on pull-up 3s), and none of their safety valves can be consistently relied upon to shoot (the Magic are the worst catch-and-shoot team in the league), offense is especially hard to come by in this era.
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Head-to-head
The Magic won their regular-season series with the Celtics, 2-1. Take little from their three meetings.
In the first, neither Banchero nor Wagner played for Orlando. Both were resting their ailing abdomens. Nor did Tatum (illness) play for Boston. The Magic needed a 15-point comeback and a game-saving 3-pointer from rookie Tristan da Silva — their leading scorer on the night — to edge the Celtics, 108-104.
Wagner missed their second game, too, and the Celtics laid a whooping on the Magic, 121-94, as Boston's starting lineup combined for 94 points. The defending champions shot 45.9% on 37 3-point attempts.
Both Banchero and Wagner were back for the third, but the Celtics rested everyone. Rookie Baylor Scheierman led them in scoring. Orlando's stars did not even need 30 minutes apiece in a 96-76 win.
Matchup to watch
Jaylen Brown could be at less than full strength against the Magic. (Photo by)
The forwards
Rarely do we see both teams' best two players match up with each other, but we may here.
In their lone meeting, Banchero spent the bulk of his time on Tatum and held up fairly well when Tatum was not pick-and-rolling into more advantageous matchups in a 30-point performance. Both are among the NBA's strongest power forwards, at least among the new type that can create, well ... everything. They are Duke-bred to be great. One was a No. 1 overall pick. The other should have been. What theater.
Wagner and Brown never faced each other during the regular season, but Wagner defended few more people than he did Brown last season. They are creative wings of their own right. They will get to their spots and organize others into theirs just as easily. It is just that Brown has no shortage of outlets, as, in addition to Tatum, White and Holiday and Porziņģis or Horford are waiting at the arc for an open 3.
Crunch-time lineups
Boston Celtics
The Celtics could close with their starting lineup of Tatum, Brown, White, Holiday and Porziņģis, though that five-man unit is somehow a -2 over their limited 357 minutes on the season — for a 61-win team.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has felt more comfortable with Horford in place of Porziņģis, banking on the added defensive efficiency, and he has been right. That group is among the league's most productive overall (+17.7 points per 100 possessions) and in the fourth quarter (+20.3 points per 100 possessions).
Orlando Magic
Orlando's most-used fourth-quarter lineup since the All-Star break is its starting group: Joseph, Caldwell-Pope, Banchero, Wanger and Carter, who are a healthy +11.5 points per 100 possessions over 216 minutes together this season. But when push came to shove in the Magic's play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks, head coach Jamahl Mosley turned to the younger Black in place of Joseph in a lineup that has not had as much success (-17.7 points per 100 possessions over 66 minutes) but might have a higher ceiling.
Prediction: Celtics in four
They have too much firepower. Tatum and Brown, even at 80%, are better than Banchero and Wagner at this point. And then there is Boston's depth. How are the Magic going to score with them?
Series betting odds
(Via BetMGM)
Boston Celtics (-10000)
Orlando Magic (+2200)
Series schedule (all times Eastern)
Game 1: Sunday @ Boston (3:30 p.m., ABC)
Game 2: Wed., April 23 @ Boston (7 p.m., TNT)
Game 3: Fri., April 25 @ Orlando (7 p.m., ESPN)
Game 4: Sun., April 27 @ Orlando (7 p.m., TNT)
*Game 5: Tue., April 29 @ Boston (TBD)
*Game 6: Thu., May 1 @ Orlando (TBD)
*Game 7: Sat., May 3 @ Boston (TBD)
*if necessary
More series previews
East: Cavaliers-Heat • Celtics-Magic • Knicks-Pistons • Pacers-Bucks
West: Thunder-Grizzlies • Rockets-Warriors • Lakers-Wolves • Nuggets-Clippers