The Pretty, the Ugly, and the TBD of the Boston Celtics' Game 2 win over the Orlando Magic

USA Today

24-04-2025

The Pretty, the Ugly, and the TBD of the Boston Celtics' Game 2 win over the Orlando Magic
The Boston Celtics improved to 2-0 in their 2025 Eastern Conference NBA Playoffs first round series against the Orlando Magic at TD Garden this past (April 23) night with a mature, 109-100 win. It was all the more impressive that the Celtics managed to do so in a game that never felt like it was in danger of being lost despite the absence of star Boston forward Jayson Tatum.
The St. Louis native, of course, was on the bench resting a wrist he picked up a bone bruise on in Game 1 of the series, missing the first playoff game of his seven-season career. But in his absence, the Celtics managed quite well with five players scoring in double figures, fellow star wing Jaylen Brown (36 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists on 12-of-19 shooting including 5-of-7 from 3) standing out in particular.
Let's take a look at the pretty, the ugly, and what is still to be determined by Boston in this series.
The Pretty
First and foremost, this was a win powered by veteran savvy, the Celtics playing like a team that's been to the mountain top, unphased by Tatum sitting out the game. Players knew their roles, and with some minor exceptions, executed well and with focus for nearly the entire game.
Boston winning the rebounding battle 46-34 highlighted the energy and intensity they brought in this tilt, and getting to the line 33 times (converting 25) highlighted how aggressive the Celtics elected to play. And while Brown led the way in that regard, flashes of his teammates sharing that load throughout the night -- especially Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis -- kept Orlando from ever finding their sea legs in this game.
And Porzingis has found an odd way to amp up the crowd with inadvertent shots to the head reminiscent of the tenure of Daniel Theis. Clearly not the sort of play one hopes for, but between that and some clutch 3s from Brown, White, and Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard, the Boston faithful chose those moments to make their presence heard.
The Ugly
As we noted last game, Boston continues to struggle from deep against the Magic, with just 37 attempts compared to their usual 48.2. This is by design from the Magic's highly-rated defense, as is the Celtics lack of ball movement (just 17 assists vs. their typical 26.1) in the win.
While this is clearly a business decision on Boston's part to an extent, the Celtics should be able to move the ball a bit more, get up a few more shots from deep, and most importantly, hit them at a better clip than 32.4%. The officiating also seemed to change in terms of how the game was being called as time went on (more on this later), and Orlando -- and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope especially -- leaned into junking up the game to a concerning degree.
What's To Be Determined
The elephant in the room is of course when Tatum will return, and whether him sitting another game to rest his wrist could risk losing a game on the road against Orlando. With Boston now up 2-0 in the series, there is a case to be made to be conservative with the Celtics' biggest star to have him ready for a run back to the finals. But knowing the Duke alum, he'll likely push hard to get back on the court for Game 3 to try for the de facto knockout win.
Also, how long (and how much) are officials going to allow the aggressive play they have been so far in the series? It is normal for the level of physicality to go up in the postseason (and officiating to relax over it), but the desperation level from Orlando will be very high in a two-game hole in front of their fans in their home arena. No need to make this a gentle jump-shooting contest that would favor Boston, but a little tighter whistle might prevent a fight -- or worse.