BOSTON — Before the Orlando Magic left Florida to begin their first-round playoff matchup against the Boston Celtics, they felt they had learned valuable lessons last spring about the mental side of an NBA postseason series.
The Magic entered this series regarding themselves as underdogs, which they clearly are against the more skilled defending champion Celtics, and at least some players worried, rightly or wrongly, that they would not get the benefit of officials’ whistles against a larger-market team that also has more star power. One of the Magic’s keys against Boston, Wendell Carter Jr. said last week, was going to be not allowing questionable calls to disrupt their focus or their confidence.
From Magic players’ perspective, what happened Wednesday night in Game 2’s 109-100 loss at TD Garden confirmed their fears. They felt the officiating crew took away a good portion of their defensive physicality. The Celtics attempted 33 free throws. Magic star Paolo Banchero picked up two early fouls. By halftime, Franz Wagner and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had two fouls apiece, and Carter had three. And, according to Carter, the Magic didn’t handle their frustration well.
“I think we got a little caught up in that,” Carter said in Orlando’s mostly quiet postgame locker room. “But we’ll be better. It’s something that we’ll have to be better (at) if we want to extend this series. In my opinion, we’re going to be better. So, I have no worries about that at all.”
Asked about the officiating, coach Jamahl Mosley stopped well short of criticizing the referees directly, first letting out a harrumph before he uttered a word.
“I’m not the one to answer that question,” Mosley said. “I promise you I can’t answer that one right now.
“I think there were some things that you’d like to look at and say differently. I’m not one to complain about any of it, but there’s a reality that all of our starters had two fouls at one point quickly and there was a time when it was 16-2 in the free-throw count (in Boston’s favor). That’s part of how the game goes, and that’s what we’ve just got to learn to push through and fight through, and that’s what these guys did.”
It may sound like a quibble, but the discrepancy in free-throw attempts was never 16-2 in Boston’s favor. But it did reach 16-4 when Kristaps Porziņģis took two foul shots with 5:03 remaining in the second quarter.
The Magic struggled to defend without fouling in Game 2. (Winslow Townson / Imagn Images)
Added context also is necessary. The Magic’s defense was elite during the regular season in large part because of the players’ effort and physicality, as well as the X’s and O’s, ranking second in points allowed per possession. But that physicality came at a cost. Orlando ranked 24th in the number of opponents’ free-throw attempts, allowing 23.4 per game.
Getting to the line was one of the Celtics’ points of emphasis, said Porziņģis, who generated 14 free-throw attempts Wednesday.
On Dec. 23, in a Magic victory over the Celtics, Porziņģis took a season-high 14 free-throw attempts. That night, Boston took 27 free throws to Orlando’s 21 — and that was with Banchero and Wagner (and Boston’s Jayson Tatum) out with injuries.
What Mosley noted, correctly, after Wednesday’s loss in Game 2 is that the Magic have to do better when they do reach the line. They made only 15 of their 24 attempts, and they wound up losing the game by 9 points.
I don’t like how the Magic are starting third quarters
The most critical stretch of Game 2 occurred early in the third quarter. After Wagner opened the second half by making a floater to cut the deficit to 50-49, the Celtics responded with an 11-0 run.
As the Magic missed a 3-pointer on three consecutive trips down the floor, Jaylen Brown sank a 30-footer and a 26-footer. After Jrue Holiday missed from 27 feet, Al Horford collected an offensive board; a few seconds later, Derrick White buried a trey of his own, and Boston had a 59-49 lead that grew by 2 points more.
In Game 1, the third quarter was also disastrous for Orlando. The Celtics outscored it 30-18 as the Magic’s offense ground to a halt.
“We’ve got to be assertive from the jump,” wing Gary Harris said Wednesday. “It’s going into the half pretty even. So, that third quarter’s huge. We’ve got to come out with more of a sense of urgency, and we’ve got to throw that first punch and try to assert our dominance on the game early, especially in that third.”
I liked the Magic’s effort, but …
Even though Carter said players’ concerns about the officiating impacted their focus, the Magic’s effort remained laudable.
Orlando’s biggest problem is that it faces a massive skill discrepancy in its shooting. I know it sounds like a broken record, and it is repetitive. The Magic defense held the Celtics to 32 percent on 12-of-37 shooting from deep Wednesday. But although that was well below the Celtics’ regular-season percentage of nearly 37 percent, the Magic are leaving themselves almost no margin for error. They slogged through a 7-of-29 shooting night from beyond the arc, and that was with Carter making all three of the 3s he attempted.
I didn’t like how Kentavious Caldwell-Pope vanished on offense
Caldwell-Pope, Orlando’s big offseason free-agent signee, was supposed to upgrade Orlando’s long-range shooting, but that hasn’t happened in this series. Caldwell-Pope made only 31 percent of his 3s before the All-Star break but seemed to finally adjust to his new team after that, making 44 percent of his attempts from deep.
In Game 1, he was a nonfactor offensively, managing only 6 points to go along with a pair of assists. In Game 2, he really struggled, going 1-for-9 from the field and missing all six of his 3-point attempts, and he didn’t have an assist.
Caldwell-Pope is playing his trademark high-effort, high-level defense. But the Magic need more from him than only defense.
“I think he’s defending his tail off, running around, flying around,” Mosley said. “They’re running him off the line. They’re flying at him (with) highly contested shots.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been a nonfactor on offense so far in the Magic-Celtics series. (Winslow Townson / Imagn Images)
I liked how Banchero plays his best in the playoffs
After a 36-point, 11-rebound performance in Game 1, Banchero had another dominant night Wednesday, with 32 points, nine boards and seven assists. What makes his output so impressive is that he’s posting those numbers even though he’s the primary focus of the Celtics’ stellar defense.
“You’ve just got to keep fighting, man,” Banchero said. “It’s two games down. They did what they’re supposed to do: beat us twice on their home floor. Now we’ve got to go protect our home floor. Simple as that.”
I like the Magic’s confidence about playing at home
I’ve been to all 30 NBA arenas, and I think the fans inside TD Garden are the loudest fans in the league.
Banchero’s right: The Magic do play better at home, as their three playoff victories last spring at Kia Center over the Cavaliers showed. At times, Kia Center was louder than I’ve ever heard it.
But as much as Banchero and his teammates feed off their fans’ energy, the fans inside Kia Center will be hard-pressed in Game 3 to match the noise from Celtics fans when the Celtics got it rolling in Game 2.
A raucous home-court advantage on Friday would be key. The Magic’s season will depend on it because Game 3 is a must win. Per the NBA, no team has ever won a best-of-seven series after it faced an 0-3 deficit. Teams that have won the first three games of a best-of-seven series have a 157-0 series record.
(Top photo of Paolo Banchero: Winslow Townson / Imagn Images)