The Orlando Magic accomplished some of what they set out to do in Game 1. They got Jayson Tatum to bite too hard on mismatches, leading to an off night against a stout defense. They only gave up 37 3-point attempts, tied for Boston’s fourth-lowest output this year (also against Orlando) and 11 fewer than the Celtics’ regular season average. And they only gave up 103 points, tied for Boston’s eighth-lowest scoring night and 13 less than their season average.
The problem with the 103 for Orlando, aside from their inability to come close to matching it, is that it could have been much less if Derrick White didn’t exist.
On a night where the Celtics got significantly less than expected total production from Tatum and Jaylen Brown, White let the “other guys” brigade with a monster 30-point night.
“I wish every night I'd be the guy that dropped 30. That'd be pretty cool,” White joked after the win. “I think every game is different. Next game, it might be anybody else on our team. So just don't go to the game expecting to get 18 shots or get two shots. So just be ready for whatever, and be ready when my opportunity comes.”
The opportunity came against an Orlando defense that is usually successful when it limits the top two opposing players. The problem with the Magic’s strategy is that most teams have a significant drop off in talent after those two stars. The Celtics, with White, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Payton Pritchard all waiting in the wings … or in the corners … have too many guys who can fill in any size scoring gaps.
“I think we did a very good job on (Tatum and Brown),” Orlando head coach Jamahl Mosley said. “For the most part, it was the Derrick Whites of the world and Payton Pritchard coming off the bench for 19; two guys that you don’t necessarily count for coming up with 49 points. I think we've got to do a better job there.”
Maybe the Magic shouldn’t be THAT surprised, considering that exact duo combined for 84 points once this season, becoming the first Celtics teammates to score 40+ each in the same game. But then again, what would that have changed? How many teams have enough defenders to handle both assignments?
One? Two? And those teams are at least a couple of playoff rounds away.
“I think that’s what makes us so dangerous, that we just have a really well-balanced team,” Tatum said. “And guys step up and it can be different guys on any night. And everybody else just kind of figures out their part to make sure we win.”
Holiday was a major part of figuring that out. It’s no surprise that Holiday was the stabilizer again. He had multiple games in last year’s championship run where he was the difference-maker.
“His defense led to our offense,” Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought Jrue did a great job setting the tone for us from a defensive standpoint in the second half.
Holiday got the Celtics moving in a way they didn’t, or couldn't, in the first half. The Celtics' poor rebounding and lack of stops dragged the pace of the game into the mud. Holiday’s focus on pace and tempo helped unlock the scoring Boston couldn't find earlier in the game.
“When you let them get out and run, they get some easy, easy looks, some of their guys get going,” Paolo Banchero said. “Pritchard had some big 3s that hurt.”
Everything is intertwined in basketball. This isn't the NFL, where the offense comes off the field when the other team gets the ball. One flows into the other the whole night, so pushing the ball up the floor meant Orlando’s defense couldn't get set.
“A good defensive team like that who packs the paint, rushes you off the 3-point line, scrambles a lot, makes you question what decision you’re gonna make,” Holiday said. “I think pace is important and probably even before that getting stops, getting rebounds and pushing pace.”
The Celtics can get big nights from anyone at any time. They’ve proven that all season long. White could drop another 30 on Wednesday night, or he could be held to three. How the Celtics get enough points to win can change every night. Boston’s stars were out-scored by 27 and the Magic still never really had a chance in the second half.
Orlando has two days to make adjustments and figure out how to steal one from the Celtics. But they're not the only ones with things to figure out heading into Game 2.
“They were more physical than us and in the second half we kind of shifted that,” Brown said. “We gotta have that mentality all series long … set the intensity of the game. I think Orlando did a great job of that in the first half, so, it's gonna be a lot of that this series. Can't expect nothing less. It's gonna be more of a fight than it is skill. Our guys gotta be ready to fight.
