Let’s just have a quick look around the old Bee Ess Jay to see what the rest of the crew has cooking today. It’s the day after Thanksgiving after all. I did all the cooking yesterday, so let me see if I can piece together an easy meal full of leftovers.
Oh, look at this. Joe Haggerty … the new guy coming through. “Red Wings have Bruins number -- for now.” That looks perfect. Fits nicely with the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics. It is Boston’s fourth straight loss to the Magic, after all.
Let me just Control + A, Control +C, and Control +V here …
“Detroit” becomes “Orlando”
“JT Compher” and “Shayne Gostisbehere” become “Paolo Banchero” and “Franz Wagner”
“Dylan Larkin” becomes “Mo Wagner”
Let me give this a read through …
Hmmm …
Well …
It turns out no matter how much slipping players do on these new in-season tournament floors, and no matter how little Boston scored, basketball and hockey are completely different sports, and thus require completely different words to be written about them.
That's not to say the concept isn’t the same today. Both Boston teams lost on the same day … again … and to a team that just seems to have their number. Orlando’s, ahem, magic extends into last season, and it’s pretty clear that this isn't something that's going to change any time soon.
That's because the Magic are for real. With all the talk about Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, both of whom are absolutely living up to the hype, reigning Rookie of the Year Paulo Banchero has his Orlando Magic creeping up the standings. He and Franz Wagner are an easily overlooked duo with enough talent to make the Magic a formidable team.
And what makes Orlando so tough for the Celtics is that they bring some thump to their game. They are not afraid to get physical, and that's something that has bothered the Celtics.
“We just gotta play tougher,” Tatum admitted after the loss. “Take care of the ball, get to the spots we want to get to, play with more pace. They try to slow you down.”
Boston’s formula for success has been playing more uptempo, letting the shots fly, and hoping there's enough volume to overcome misses when the efficiency goes away. The Celtics only took 76 shots against Orlando, their fewest this season. Their offensive rating was 20 points below their season average.
Their defensive rating was a little higher than normal, 111.9, but that's only about four points better than their season mark of 107.8. The Celtics made a ton of defensive mistakes, and giving up 113 points is not great, but Boston has scored more than 113 in 11 games this season. They have the firepower to win a game like this.
But not when their effective field goal percentage is 10 full percentage points lower than usual. Not when their offensive rebounding percentage is 11 points lower than usual.
That's what Boston does. They either shoot well or they find their way to offensive rebounds to extend possessions and get the volume they need. Jrue Holiday is obviously one of the guys who could have helped with all of this, so it’s clear that having him could have changed a lot.
But these are the Boston freakin’ Celtics. They're not going to win 70 games, but losing Holiday shouldn’t have been a death knell against the Magic. And yes, they lost Kristaps Porzingis in the third quarter, but that was when it was already 62-62 and Orlando had tied it up.
“Obviously we're a much better team and everybody's healthy,” Tatum said. “But throughout the course of the season, there's going to be nights where certain guys are out. We can't use that as an excuse of why we didn't win the game. We still got to figure out a way to get the job done.”
As much as the Celtics are capable of being a champion this year, and still probably the most likely team to win it, they still have to learn to like the taste of blood in their mouth. They still need to find a bit of that bruiser mentality in a team that has had a tendency to shy away from that kind of stuff.
I’m not saying they need to turn into the Bad Boy Pistons. And I’m also not saying they're delicate flowers on the floor, either. But it’s becoming a little more evident that the more you bump, jostle, push, and prod the Celtics, the more out of their rhythm they fall.
And when the toughness moves upstairs and the Celtics need to gird themselves mentally, they need to demonstrate the same ability to fight through what’s in front of them.
For now, these are still tests the Celtics have to past. But if they're not careful to learn from them, they will become cemented as tendencies. This one is already creeping in that direction.
Orlando is a tough team. Maybe they’ll become a bigger thorn in Boston’s side this season, or maybe they’ll hit a rough patch later on, but they're not far away from becoming a problem for Boston. Whether it’s this season or a few moving forward, Orlando is is making it very clear they going to be a tough out.
Boston needs to make sure they're tough enough to live up to the challenge.
