Orlando Magic push limits with physical play, but C's say questionable tactics don't bother them

The Boston Celtics hadn’t played a truly meaningful game for quite some time before Game 1 of their opening-round series against Orlando, so the intensity of it might have been a little jarring. It’s sort of like that first buffalo wing after a month off from spicy foods. It has a little bit more kick than you remember. 

But the Celtics got a quick reminder thanks to the Magic’s willingness to throw their bodies around. 

"It just reminds you of what the playoffs are and the intensity that you play with,” Al Horford said after the team’s Tuesday practice. “We're all competing. We're playing hard. There's a level to it. In the regular season, you probably don't see it as consistent. In the playoffs, there's a lot of it. That's just a reminder."

The biggest reminder came late in the game when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope swiped across Jayson Tatum’s arms, pulling him awkwardly to the ground. Tatum put his hands out to brace his fall, hurting his wrist in the process. Caldwell-Pope was given a flagrant foul on the play, but the vulgar trash-talking in the aftermath of the foul showed Orlando’s true motivations. 

Caldwell-Pope can be heard declaring “we ain’t going nowhere” on camera, meaning Orlando’s physical play is going to continue. 

“Only thing I would say is that it’s the playoffs, so the game is gonna be more physical, it’s gonna be more intense,” Horford said, admitting that he thought there was extra intention behind that foul. “I feel like those plays are probably gonna happen more often than not.”

Horford stood between the prone Tatum and the Orlando bench, gesturing that this was the third time KCP had given Tatum a hard foul. It continues a trend for the Magic, who drew the ire of Hawks star Trae Young after their play-in game last week. 

"They are a very physical team and I have had two teammates hurt this year in one game against them,” Young said. “I am not going to call them dirty players or anything like that ... I think they have a bunch of talented players, but there are a lot of plays and moments that guys want to try to be more physical to the point where it is not necessary basketball at that point.”

This is the line on which the Magic live. They are a big, physical defense that is not afraid to mix it up. They aren’t just trying to intimidate opponents with their size and defensive ability, they're also sending the message that the rim will be protected at all costs. They are willing to challenge everything, even if the challenge blurs the boundary between tough playoff basketball and the unnecessary.

For a team that's as big an underdog as Orlando is, these tactics are aimed at intimidation and levelling the playing field through psychological warfare. 

“I don't feel intimidated,” Payton Pritchard said. “No matter what a hard foul is, we're just gonna get up and play ball and just check it back up. Obviously they fouled him hard and then he had a little fall, but It's not gonna stop us from what we're trying to achieve. It's not gonna knock us off our path.”

The Magic will make the Celtics prove that last part. Joe Mazzulla is keenly aware of the mental game because he always wants to win it. That's part of why he was screaming at Tatum to “GET UP” from the sideline.

“Our team has taken after Joe and the way that he is,” Horford said. “We want to play hard, we want to compete. That's the mindset that we carry. And Joe is competitive. He's as competitive as we are, and we're all in this together, how they were out there competing and we all want the same thing for our group.”

For his part, Mazzulla called the moment something he did out of love for Tatum. He doesn’t want Tatum perceived negatively for staying down. Mazzulla, a jiu jitsu practitioner and all-around maniac, staying down shows your opponent has succeeded in something. 

“You love guys in different ways, but everything is built on love,” Mazzulla said. “Everything is built on the relationship that we have, their self-expression, they allow me to be who I am. And they trust, we have a trust for each other, but it all starts with love. And so in that moment it looks different in different moments, but I appreciate who he is as a competitor and our team in that moment but it all starts with that.”

Tatum has reportedly been diagnosed with a bone bruise, something that won’t be made official until the team releases its official injury report later in the evening. Mazzulla called Tatum’s status “day-to-day” and said he went through some things but not all at practice. 

How that impacts Tatum is yet to be seen. But the Celtics vow not to be intimidated by Orlando’s tactics. In a game of underdog versus champions, the champs can’t let the dogs dictate the rules of engagement. 

“It's fine, they can try it,” Pritchard said. “See if it works. We go into the game and do what we do.”