Magic’s playoff elimination hammers home an obvious fatal flaw: Orlando badly needs a scoring guard
The Boston Celtics have advanced to the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs after eliminating the Orlando Magic with a 120-89 Game 5 victory at home on Tuesday night. Boston failed to make a 3-pointer in the first half for the first time all season, but bounced back to blow Orlando out of TD Garden in the second half.
Boston will now meet the winner of the New York Knicks-Detroit Pistons series in the Eastern Conference semifinals as they continue their attempt to become the first back-to-back champion since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. The Celtics haven’t won consecutive titles since 1968 and 1969.
Both the Knicks and Pistons will likely present a much stiffer challenge to the Celtics than the Magic, who simply didn’t have the offensive firepower to keep up in the series. While the Orlando finished 27th in offensive efficiency during the regular season, the Knicks (fifth) and Pistons (14th) were much more potent.
The Celtics also have some health issues to worry about, as Jrue Holiday missed the final three games of the opening-round series with a hamstring injury, while Jaylen Brown has been battling knee and finger issues. Jayson Tatum also missed a game during the series with a significant bone bruise in his shooting wrist.
Now they’ll have some time to heal as they await the winner of the New York-Detroit series.
“You can’t really ride the emotional roller coaster of the playoffs,” Tatum said after the clinching Game 5 win. “You’ve gotta stay poised, fight through battles, whatever. I think our biggest thing right now is staying healthy, just taking it one game at a time. Respect our opponent, whoever we play next, and stay ready.”
Despite the vehement protestations of Magic coach Jamahl Mosley and a replay review, Paolo Banchero picked up his fifth foul of the game early in the third quarter after bumping Jaylen Brown on a layup attempt.
The Magic will have to play a large chunk of the second half without their leading scorer, and now it will be up to Franz Wagner to shoulder essentially the entire Orlando offense.
The story of the first half is 3-pointers — well, more accurately, a lack of 3-pointers. The Celtics set an NBA record with 1,457 3s during the regular season, and they finished the first 24 minutes of Game 5 with ZERO. That’s right, Boston went 0 for 6 from long distance, making it the first half of basketball all season where they’ve failed to make a 3-point shot.
With that in mind, they might consider themselves fortunate to be within two points as they look to advance to the second round with a win.
As they’ve done all series, the Magic have been staunchly focused on limiting Boston’s 3-point attempts. The Celtics averaged 48.2 long-range attempts per game this season (also an NBA record), and entered Tuesday night averaging just 33 in four games against Orlando, which was 11th among playoff teams.
Orlando couldn’t take advantage of Boston’s drought from deep, however, due to a lack of offense — a common trend with the Magic. Franz Wagner was the main playmaking source, putting up 17 first-half points on 6-for-11 shooting. Budding star Paolo Banchero struggled from the field, scoring 11 points on 3-for-10 shooting.
The Celtics stayed in the game offensively thanks to 16 points from Jayson Tatum and eight from Jaylen Brown.
I’m not a betting man, but I’d say there’s a solid chance the Celtics make at least one 3-pointer in the second half, which could mean a loss — and a playoff elimination — for the Orlando Magic.
Unless his status is upgraded before tipoff on Tuesday, Jrue Holiday will miss his third consecutive game due to a right hamstring strain. The Celtics have listed him as out for Game 5.
Jaylen Brown (right knee posterior impingement) is listed as questionable, but he had that designation for the past couple of games and suited up in both of them.
Without Holiday, Boston has started a bigger lineup featuring Al Horford next to Kristaps Porzingis in the frontcourt.
Up 3-1, the Celtics have a chance to eliminate the Orlando Magic and advance to the second round.
The Orlando Magic had every opportunity to win this game and send the series back to Boston at 2-2, but in the end, they just couldn’t muster enough offense and the Celtics delivered the finishing kick of a champion to take a commanding 3-1 lead.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 35 points and converted a number of clutch one-on-one buckets down the stretch of a game that felt like it could be swinging on every possession.
The Magic tied the score at 91 with just over four minutes to play and had all the momentum, but coming out the timeout, Kristaps Porzingis finished what might’ve been the biggest bucket of the game — an and-one put-back dunk off his own miss.
Beginning with that basket, the Celtics closed the game on a 16-7 run. It was too much for an Orlando team that dug deep to stay attached every time it looked like Boston was going to pull away, but again, was, and is, too offensively limited to win a game like this.
But it was there to be had for the Magic, make no mistake. Paolo Banchero led the way with 31 points but he needed 32 shots to get there. Had Banchero been able to be just a little bit more efficient, and certainly if the Magic could’ve managed to make more than eight of their 30 3-point attempts, we could be talking about a different series right now.
But that’s not how it went, and now Orlando faces an almost impossible climb as teams that have gone down 3-1 in a series have gone one to lose that series over 95% of the time.
The defending champs are in a battle in Game 4 in 2-1 series that could get very interesting if the Magic are able to pull this one out.
The Magic got down by as many as eight down the stretch of the second quarter and it felt like maybe the Celtics were about to stretch the gap, but over a wild few minutes Orlando was able to actually jump back in front. Jayson Tatum hit a big momentum 3 to close the first half for Boston.
Tatum, who is isolating quite a bit against this Orlando defense that is committed to single coverage, leads the Celtics with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, followed by Kristaps Porzingis with 13.
Paolo Banchero leads the Magic with 18 points but it has required 17 shots. Franz Wagner has 10. The Magic need to find at least one more source of legitimate offense if they’re going to make this a game down the stretch.
The Orlando Magic will not be swept. It wasn’t pretty, but they came away with a win in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Boston Celtics on Friday, thanks primarily to their tough, physical defense.
Orlando shot just 8 for 32 (25%) from 3-point range, but got just enough offense to pull this win out. Franz Wagner scored 10 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and he finished with seven rebounds and eight assists, too.
Paolo Banchero added 29 points on 10-for-25 shooting, plus six boards. Wendell Carter Jr. had 10 points and 12 rebounds, six of them offensive.
It was an atypical shooting night for the Celtics: They shot 9 for 27 (33.3%) from 3-point range. Some of the misses were unlucky, but the Magic’s defense was outstanding in terms of limiting their 3s and contesting them.
Jayson Tatum missed Game 2 because of a wrist injury, but didn’t appear too bothered by it on Friday. He finished with a game-high 36 points on 10-for-22 shooting. He did have seven turnovers, though, and Jaylen Brown had six turnovers, too.
Game 4 is Sunday in Orlando.
With 6:20 left, Orlando has called a timeout following an Al Horford 3 and a Jaylen Brown and-1. The Magic are up 86-80, and coach Jamahl Mosley doesn’t want this lead to slip away.
In the second half, the Celtics have shot 7 for 25 from the field and 2 for 12 from deep. They have also turned the ball over nine times since halftime. They should lose this type of game, but they’re still very much in it.
By the way, in the timeout that preceded this one, Horford was “visibly frustrated” and “threw his water bottle,” per ESPN’s Katie George.
The Magic went on an 8-0 run that spanned the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth. With 7:47 left in regulation, they’re up 83-74.
Boston has missed its last nine 3-point attempts and is shooting 8 for 24 from deep overall. It has made the same amount of 3s as Orlando has, which is crazy considering these teams’ respective styles of play and levels of shooting talent. Uh-oh!
Well, that was a nightmarish 12 minutes for the Celtics. They were outscored 24-11 in the quarter, and they were on the wrong end of an 18-1 run.
Boston has not had a lower-scoring quarter all season. It had twice as many turnovers (six) as it did made field goals (three). It allowed Orlando to grab six offensive rebounds, too.
Now let’s see if the Magic can keep this going. They’ve put themselves in good position, but they’ve still shot just 7 for 26 from 3-point range tonight.
Orlando has taken back the lead! It’s on a 14-0 run and leading 65-62 with 7:12 remaining in the third.
Here’s Wendell Carter Jr. throwing it down:
Down 2-0, the Magic are trying to extend their season. Let’s see how Boston responds. It has missed its last six field goal attempts and it keeps turning the ball over, too.
The second quarter did not treat Orlando well. Boston outscored the Magic 32-18 in the period, and it went on a 14-0 run in a stretch that spanned about four-and-a-half minutes.
Jayson Tatum, who was questionable heading into the game, has 21 points (7-12 FG, 3-7 3PT, 4-4 FT), three rebounds, one assist, one steal and four turnovers in 20 minutes. Jaylen Brown added 11 points, Derrick White had 10 and Luke Kornet gave the Celtics great rim protection off the bench.
The Magic got 15 points apiece from Paolo Banchero (6-12 FG, 2-2 3PT, 1-2 FT) and Franz Wagner (6-12 FG, 1-5 3PT, 2-4 FT), but the team shot a collective 5 for 16 from deep.
Boston is on an 10-0 run with 3:17 left in the first half. As part of that, Jayson Tatum is on a personal 8-0 run: a pull-up 3, a pull-up 2 and another pull-up 3.
A couple of hours ago, it wasn’t clear whether or not Tatum would even play in this game. Now he has 21 points in 16 minutes. Pretty good!
Boston’s up 50-44, by the way.
Orlando has the edge heading into the second quarter, thanks largely to Paolo Banchero, who has 13 points (5-6 FG, 2-2 3PT, 1-2 FT) in 10 minutes. The Magic went on a 12-0 run late in the quarter.
Here’s one of Banchero’s two 3s:
Anthony Black came off the bench and did a lot of damage, immediately stealing an inbounds pass, making a layup and then forcing another turnover and drawing a clear path foul:
Black later threw down a nasty alley-oop dunk:
Jayson Tatum was listed as doubtful and then questionable leading into the game, but was upgraded to available before tipoff. He looks good so far — he played the entire first quarter and scored 13 points (4-7 FG, 1-3 3PT, 4-4 FT). He started things off with a strong drive and a stepback 3, both against big man Wendell Carter Jr.
The bad news for Boston (besides the fact that Orlando has the lead): Jrue Holiday is out with a right hamstring strain.
NBA playoff odds, picks: Luka Dončić, LeBron James expose Timberwolves; Celtics go up 3-0 on Magic
Jayson Tatum injury update: Celtics star available to play in Game 3 vs. Magic
The Boston Celtics will carry a 2-0 series lead into Orlando when they take on the Magic for Game 3 of this series on Friday.
It was a far better effort in Game 2 from the Magic, who got more help out of their role players to assist Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Celtics, who were without Jayson Tatum due to a wrist injury he suffered in Game 1. Jaylen Brown finished with 36 points, while Kristaps Porzingis tacked on 20 points of his own. Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard added 14 points off the bench, and Derrick White came alive in the fourth quarter to put just enough distance between them and the Magic.
The Magic played excellent defense down the stretch in the fourth quarter, but just couldn’t make enough shots on the other end to put a dent in Boston’s lead. That’s been the tale of this series so far: Orlando plays solid defense but can’t make it count on the other end.
It’s an issue that plagued the Magic in the regular season, as they ranked 27th on offense, but employed the second-best defense in the league. The Magic need their role players to step up in Game 3 if they want to make this a competitive series, otherwise they could be looking at a sweep by week’s end.
Orlando Magic big man Goga Bitadze was given a Flagrant 1 foul after elbowing Kristaps Porzingis in the forehead late in the third quarter. On first watch it didn’t look like the officials would upgrade the foul, but upon review, Bitadze flailed his arm back to make contact with Porzingis’ head, causing him to hit the ground and bleed almost immediately from his forehead.
Porzingis went straight back to the locker room with blood streaming down his face, then returned shortly after with a big bandage on his forehead to shoot two technical free throws, which he went 1-2 from the line to put his team up 78-66. He then went back to the locker room to receive further medical attention before returning to the floor in the fourth quarter.
Porzingis received five stitches, according to TNT’s Stephanie Ready.
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The Magic, trailing the Celtics 0-1 in the series, ended the first half of Game 2 on a 21-12 run and find themselves trailing the defending NBA champions by just three points at halftime. Credit Orlando’s defense, which has held the Celtics to just 25% from 3-point range while consistently forcing Boston into tough shots. The Celtics have also just missed some great looks, but the Magic have done a great job of not letting guys get into rhythm easily. The low-scoring affair through two quarters favors the Magic, whose one-two punch of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have paced the team so far.
For Boston, Jayson Tatum didn’t suit up for the game as he’s dealing with a wrist injury, which meant the Celtics would need to find production elsewhere. That’s come from Kristaps Porzingis, who has 15 points, and Jaylen Brown, who has 14.
As the second half starts, if Orlando wants to have a chance at evening up this series, they’ll need to limit the fouls.
In the first half, the Celtics attempted 23 free throws, compared to just the 10 Orlando took. That discrepancy was a major difference maker in the first half.
The Celtics have listed Tatum out for Game 2 against the Orlando Magic. He was listed as doubtful heading into Wednesday night’s contest, and has now been downgraded to out. He was not on the floor for pregame warmups like he typically is, and while coach Joe Mazzulla kept it close to the vest during pregame availability, saying Tatum’s still “day-to-day,” the latest injury report has him out.
Tatum hurt his wrist in the fourth quarter of Boston’s Game 1 win against the Magic on Sunday. He landed awkwardly on it following a drive to the rim that was met by contact with Orlando’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr. After the fall, Tatum remained in the game, but it was clear as the quarter progressed he was favoring that right wrist.
The All-Star forward said after the game that his wrist was “throbbing for a second,”, but then “it kind of went away.” He received X-rays on the wrist, and judging by the fact that he wasn’t immediately ruled out for Game 2 it suggests that those scans came back clean.
While the Celtics would obviously rather have Tatum out there, sitting him against the Magic is the smart move. The Celtics are coming off a 17-point win in Game 1, and could very well win this series without Tatum. Resting him now to get that wrist fully healthy for a long postseason run is a better plan than risking further injury by putting him out there right now.
With Tatum out, that means Jaylen Brown will be the focus of Boston’s offense. He’s played that role many times with the Celtics, and his performance on last year’s championship squad earned him Finals MVP, so he’s certainly prepared to take on that role.
The Celtics went into halftime trailing the Magic by one on Sunday afternoon, but dominated the second half to cruise to a 15-point victory in Game 1 and take a 1-0 series lead.
This game largely played out how most expected it would. The Magic succeeded in making life difficult for the Celtics with their pesky defense, but just didn’t have the firepower to seriously threaten the defending champions. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner combined for 59 points on 24 of 51 from the field, while the rest of the team had 27 points on 10 of 30 shooting.
Neither Jayson Tatum nor Jaylen Brown were able to get much going against the Magic’s defense, but Derrick White picked up the slack with seven 3-pointers and 30 points. The Celtics also got 19 points off the bench from Payton Pritchard, who showed why he’s a leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year.
Despite the win, it wasn’t all good news for the Celtics. Tatum was on the receiving end of a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter which caused him to land awkwardly on his right wrist. He got it taped up and remained in the game, but seemed to be favoring the wrist as the fourth quarter progressed.
That will be something to monitor over the rest of the series and playoffs.
The Celtics jumped out to an early 12-point lead, but the Magic have succeeded in dragging them into the mud, and closed the half on an extended 25-12 run to pull ahead at the break.
Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have been doing all the damage for the Magic. They’ve combined for 34 points on 14 of 27 from the field. The rest of the team has 15 points on 6 of 18 shooting. The Magic have also made seven 3-pointers already. They were last in the league in makes per game at 11.2 per game in the regular season.
Will the Celtics be able to figure out this tough Magic defense in the second half? They’ll need much more from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who are a combined 6 of 17.
Payton Pritchard just drained a pull-up 3-pointer in transition to give the Celtics a 12-point lead — their biggest of the day. Pritchard has now hit two 3s and is up to a team-high nine points for the day. As a team, the Celtics are 5 of 10 from behind the arc. Their outside shooting is one of their major advantages over the Magic, and is already making a difference.
