The Celtics lost two-of-three regular season games against Orlando.
The road to Banner 19 begins Sunday at 3:30 p.m. when the Orlando Magic come to TD Garden for the opening round of the NBA Playoffs. The last time these two teams faced each other in the playoffs was 15 years ago in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals.
Although they’re the seventh seed in these playoffs, the Magic have had Boston’s number in the regular season. The two teams squared off three times with Orlando winning two of the three matchups.
The first matchup of the 2024-25 season was back on December 23. The Magic won the game 108-104. In this game, right before tip-off, Jayson Tatum was put on the injury list before being ruled out at halftime. Al Horford started the game in place of Tatum and Jayson never got on the floor.
The Magic were also missing key players as both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner missed the contest.
Jaylen Brown led the way for Boston scoring 35 points, helping the team get out to a 15-point lead by halftime. Unfortunately, the Magic locked in defensively and went on a 9-1 run to start the second half to get back into the game.
Another crazy sequence for the Celtics: Jaylen Brown with the two handed slam, Jrue Holiday gets another steal, and Jaylen Brown ends up with the ball to score again. pic.twitter.com/pN0jpBwFQw
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) December 24, 2024
The Magic tied the game at 79 to end the third quarter. The Magic had all the momentum, thanks to Boston shooting just 26.3% from the field and going 2-for-9 from three with seven turnovers.
The teams got into a bit of a scuffle when Kristaps Porzingis sized up Jalen Suggs and then got into it with Goga Bitadze.
With under a minute left the Celtics had a chance to take the lead but Al Horford missed a corner three which led to the Magic scoring on their next possession to protect home court and walk away with the win.
The second matchup was on January 17 in Boston where the Celtics took care of Orlando 121-94.
The Magic were still without Wagner and were missing Suggs, Goga, Gary Harris, and Jett Howard, but Banchero was back. For Boston, it had all of their stars back in the lineup.
Tatum (30 points), Brown (20), and Porzingis (23) combined for 73 en route to a win over Orlando.
This game showed what happens when Boston’s Big Three are lighting it up. Although the Magic were depleted, it seemed from the opening tip that it was always going to favor Boston.
Eight Celtics hit threes and five of them connected on multiple threes. It was the epitome of the Joe Mazzulla offense where everything is clicking from inside to out.
Similar to the first meeting between the two teams, it’s hard to take much from this game considering how many players were out for Orlando.
The third meeting came just this month in Orlando where the Magic beat Boston by 20, 96-76. Again in this game, just like all the others, key players were missing. Boston was without Brown, White, Porzingis, Horford, Holiday, and Tatum so this game shouldn’t be scrutinized as Mazzulla gave the likes of Baylor Scheierman, Torrey Craig, Miles Norris, JD Davison, etc. an extended run.
The rookie, Scheierman, looked good in the game, posting 15 points and five rebounds.
The Magic were led by Wagner who netted 23 points and Cole Anthony with 18.
There isn’t much to go off of the regular season matchups as both teams had guys out each time they played each other. The Magic did well against Cleveland last season pushing them to seven games so they’ll be up for a fight. Hopefully, Boston’s offense is too much for Orlando. Now both teams so we will see how they match up with one another beginning this Sunday.