NBA Notebook: Magic have made for captivating villains and test for Celtics

ORLANDO — It's clear through three games that the Magic are better than a seven-seed. They proved it last year by climbing into position to steal a home court spot in the East, losing to the Cavs as the fifth in an all-time rock fight series capped by a Game 7 victory on the road. Orlando won all of its home games and drew close in the finale, utilizing the first playoff run for many of its young players as preparation to look mostly unfazed against the defending champions in this first round. 

"There are a lot of similarities," Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said on Friday morning before Game 3. "I think Game 1 in Cleveland, lost by 14, Game 1 in Boston, lost by 17. Game 2, lost by 10 in Cleveland, you lose by nine in Boston. The similarities are there score-wise, but the energy of the crowd, being able to get your practice reps here in our building and our facility, and then just our home crowd, and we know just how energized they are to be back home ... I don't talk about Game 3 as much, because I just really remember Game 6 more than anything. The energy from the crowd, the enthusiasm of the game, knowing it was a must-get game. The way our guys responded, the way our fans responded, the way they got behind our guys. That energizes our group."  

Injuries to Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, stars showing themselves ready for this moment, as well as season-ending ailments for Jalen Suggs and Moe Wagner undoubtedly knocked this group below where they should've landed in the final standings. And the Celtics, for all their regular-season work, have suffered through the bruising that the Magic have inflicted upon them. Depending on how healthy they escape this series, they'll potentially face more big, physical and athletic opponents later in the playoffs, and two of them would have home court advantage on Boston. The Magic present the perfect test for Cavs and Thunder series down the line that present similar challenges. 

Kristaps Porziņģis knew it would be harder for Boston this year. And as he begins his first extended postseason run with the team after missing most of last year's playoffs, he's struggled as much as anyone with the Magic's switching, possessions where they don't give up a matchup and the lack of availability of threes. Boston shot its fewest attempts from deep of the season with 27 in their Game 3 loss. A relentless Orlando unit that finished the season second in defense has made the Celtics look their worst offensively since at least 2023, or longer. You have to go back to 2021 to find an 11-point quarter from them.

"What we can prepare is to have a harder run than we had maybe last year," Porziņģis said before the series. "Because last year, we were really, really dominant and (it) looked as an easy run for us. Even up until the Finals, everybody was saying, oh they're not battle-tested and we're gonna see now and duh, duh, duh, and it just went that way all the way through, and we won the championship." 

The start already looks different. Jaylen Brown began the playoffs nursing a knee ailment that landed him back on the injury report entering Game 3 after playing 41 minutes two nights earlier. Jayson Tatum suffered a wrist bruise in Game 1 while Jrue Holiday sat out Friday's loss with a hamstring strain and will miss Sunday's game as well. The physical strain of the series has been obvious, compared to a Heat team at this time last year with multiple rotation injuries headlined by Jimmy Butler that left them unable to compete outside of a three-point barrage. The Magic have been able to replicate their defense dominance without Suggs and Wagner, while they're willingness to foul has disrupted the Celtics' rhythm. Boston is shooting 44.9% from the field, 36.6% from three and 76.7% at the free throw line while committing 43 turnovers alongside their 54 assists. Most glaring, they've only generated 33.7 three-point attempts per game in the series -- way down from their league-leading 48.2. That mark would rank 29th among teams during the year. 

They've had to play a different way, and it hasn't been pretty for some of their players. Porziņģis fell to 28.1% from the field with a Game 3 flop. Luke Kornet's effectiveness has waned in the series, Sam Hauser hasn't scored yet, missing all four threes in 36 minutes, while Payton Pritchard managed only two field goal attempts in his Game 3 run with three turnovers after a strong start to the series in Boston. Tatum fell to 18-for-44 (40.9%) after a strong first half in his return from the injury. He committed seven turnovers, including a pair of travels that could've potentially stemmed from the pain's impact on on his ball-handling. 

Meanwhile, the Magic havecommitted three flagrant fouls, turning Brown's focus toward the officials after Cole Anthony's flagrant dislocated his left index finger, creating an odd moment between Tatum and Joe Mazzulla, who urged Tatum to get up after his injury, and causing Porziņģis to opine that the Celtics should potentially foul more when not giving up free throws has been Boston's strength in the series. Mazzulla tried to turn the focus back toward the game's finer details while facing questions about the Magic's fouling on Sunday. 

"Yeah, 46 points, 26 points in transition, 19 made free throws ... 15 on second chance points," Mazzulla said. "So just focusing on the margins and the trenches and the things that impact the game. That's just a little less than half of their points, so you have to win those margins. You have to focus on the things that you can control. Even though we had an 11-point third quarter, I have to be better in the third quarter at our play-calling. We have to be better at executing in the third quarter, even with that, it still comes down to the details, it still comes down to the details, it still comes down to the trenches, the margins and you have to cut those 46 points down more. The physicality and the rebounding, that's part of it. The physicality and defending without fouling is part of it, and owning your space and valuing the basketball, in turn, all those things add up to the physicality and the stuff that we're talking about."

Game 3 swung the Celtics into a turnover deficit, a concern in this series alongside the free-throw margin. The latter held up. Despite Brown's push for more calls, Boston leads 73-61 in free throw attempts and 56-42 in makes. They've won a tight offensive rebounding battle overall. Their shooting allowed them out outpace Orlando's offense by nearly 10 points per 100 possessions. But this isn't just about this series, as much as it looks like the Magic could push it longer than many expected. 

Elsewhere, Cleveland soared to a 3-0 series lead on Saturday, albeit over a much worse Heat team, by scoring 120 points in all three wins. They shot over 60% eFG, have turned the ball over on fewer than 10% of their possessions and have grabbed offensive rebounds on more than 26% of their misses entering Game 4. They're not as physically-imposing as the Magic, but feature size and switching, and could mimic some of the ways Orlando slowed Boston's offense.

Then, there's the Thunder, scorching through their own first-round series over Memphis and looking like the best team in the NBA right now. Through the first three games against the Grizzlies, Oklahoma City also posted 120 points in every game, shut down the Grizzlies to 28% three-point shooting and held both Ja Morant (41.5%) and Jaren Jackson Jr. in check. If the Magic presented a difficult challenge for the Celtics' offense, the Thunder present a monumental one. No team stopped threes better, and there's a reason they surpassed Boston as title favorites in Vegas -- and posted the league's second-best net rating ever. 

The Celtics have time before those challenges arrive, and plenty can change across the NBA's landscape. In the meantime, they have areas they can grow in: pushing the pace to avoid set defense, drawing up plays to put slumping players in position to succeed, beating switching and playing through the fouls their opponents could become increasingly willing to take against them. Two free throws are better than a three. 

"They're definitely running us off (the three-point line) very aggressively," Porziņģis said. "We have to be smart about it. Some of them are still good looks and we have to take them, but some of them it's let them fly by and then make the next play. You gotta find that balance, but they're definitely on the higher end of aggressiveness closing out, so we have to make them pay for it. My shot's feeling a little janky right now, I'm not gonna lie, but I have to keep shooting. What else am I gonna do? I'm gonna keep shooting, but it stings. I gotta take accountability. I played like s*** and we still had opportunities to win. So for sure, we'll get together again and correct some of our mistakes and we'll bounce back." 

Here's what else happened around the league this week...

Boston (leads 2-1 vs. ORL): Jayson Tatum suffered a severe bone bruise after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope committed a flagrant foul on him in mid-air during the Celtics' series-opening win on Sunday. He missed Game 2 while Jaylen Brown led Boston to a 2-0 series lead and Kristaps Porziņģis had another playoff moment in TD Garden, returning to close out the victory after Goga Bitadze split open his forehead with another flagrant. But the bumps-and-bruises returned Brown to the injury report on Friday with his lingering knee ailment while Tatum's status remained in doubt until later in the day before they both played and struggled. Jrue Holiday (hamstring) sat out after playing well in the first two games, and the Magic gritted out a 95-93 win at home, where they've been the Celtics in five straight games going back to October, 2022. Payton Pritchard ran away with the Sixth Man of the Year award, beating Malik Beasley and Ty Jerome with 82 of the 100 first-place votes. He follows Kevin McHale, Bill Walton and Malcolm Brogdon as past Celtic winners of the award now named for John Havlicek. Game 4 is Sunday at 7 p.m. 

Cleveland (leads 3-0 vs. MIA): Donovan Mitchell shook off his late-season ankle injury to score 60 points across the Cavs' series-opening wins over the Heat, who played close in Game 2 but couldn't slow the Cavs' offense in either game. Cleveland scored 121 in each behind Darius Garland, Ty Jerome, Evan Mobley and Max Strus all shooting over 50% across the wins. Mobley won a tight race for Defensive Player of the Year this week (35 first place votes), beating the Hawks' Dyson Daniels (25), Draymond Green (15), Lu Dort (11) and Houston's Amen Thompson (9). Derrick White received one second-place vote as the lone Celtic to appear in voting. Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis and Jaylen Brown were ineligible due to playing fewer than 65 games. Earlier this season, I wrote that an elite Mobley is the Cavs' best hope at upsetting the Celtics in a playoff series. Garland missed Saturday's Game 3 with a toe injury, a blowout win for the Cavs that sets them up for a round two matchup against Indiana or Milwaukee when they advance.

Golden State (tied 1-1 vs. HOU): Have struggled against the Rockets' size so far while riding Steph Curry's shot-making to win Game 1 then for most of their scoring in a lackluster Game 2. Jimmy Butler fell from mid-air after getting undercut eight minutes into the loss, leaving and not returning. He's listed as questionable for Saturday's Game 3 at 8:30 p.m. The Warriors announced Butler suffered a pelvis and deep glute muscle contusion. Steve Kerr said he's relatively optimistic that Butler can play. Jonathan Kuminga struggled in his return to the rotation following Butler's injury, shooting 4-for-12 with 11 points in 26 minutes. Jalen Green bounced back in Game 2 with 38 points after a disastrous seven-point showing in the series opener. Ime Udoka also made a mistake getting away from the Alperen Şengün-Steven Adams combo that's +13.6 in 21 minutes. Getting away from it late cost the Rockets a chance to win Game 1, but their offense has also ailed them. A limited Butler would put them in a much better position to win the series.

"I think the dirty player is Draymond [Green], giving (Amen Thompson) a little push as regular basketball players do," Dillon Brooks said . "And Jimmy's fighting in the air for a rebound and stuff happens. Amen's not a dirty player. He has [nothing] to do with being a dirty player."

Indiana (leads 2-1 vs. MIL): The Bucks got their first win with the series turning to Milwaukee on Friday behind 37 points each from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Gary Trent Jr. after Tyrese Haliburton exclaimed that both teams don't like each other following the Pacers' Game 2 win to go up 2-0. Doc Rivers maintained faith in the series and shook up Milwaukee's rotations, going with more AJ Green, Kevin Porter Jr. and Trent while getting away from Brook Lopez, who scored 0 points in the win, and Kyle Kuzma (37.5% FG), who's struggled immensely to begin the series. Only four Pacers scored double-figures, Indiana posting only 101 points, after six did in Game 2. Damian Lillard started slow in his miraculous return from a blood clot, shooting 6-for-25 between Games 2-3. Milwaukee extended GM Jon Horst this week despite uncertainty surrounding Antetokounmpo's (35.7 PPG R1) future if the Bucks fall in round one. The Bucks have the second-best winning percentage in the NBA through his tenure, but have regressed across the last two seasons. 

Clippers (lead 2-1 vs. DEN): Escaped Game 2 behind an all-time Kawhi Leonard performance, 39 points in 39 minutes on 15-of-19 shooting. He closed 6-of-9, and 4-of-7 in the fourth, where he hit two jumpers in the final three minutes; found Norman Powell for a three that broke a 100-100 tie, then pushed LA's lead to three before finishing the game with a steal on Nikola Jokić. Jokić has averaged 26.0 PPG, 11.0 RPG and 11.7 APG on 53.7% shooting to keep the Nuggets in the series, but Russell Westbrook, Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. have struggled as depth concerns emerge again for Denver. ESPN hit on Leonard's return to dominance after missing the start of this season, which led to concerns that he should retire. He's averaging 27.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 4.3 APG on 60.3% shooting to begin the playoffs. If that Leonard is back, they're a title contender. Russell Westbrook (foot) missed Saturday's Game 4 for Denver while Porter Jr. played through a right shoulder issue. 

"I sat and watched these playoff games and series the past two years," Leonard said. "So being able to be front-line out there, it just feels good for me no matter which way the game goes. That's what I'm taking pride in. I just want to be out there and play and be on the front line with my team."

Lakers (down 1-2 vs. MIN): Overwhelmed by the Wolves' size and depth through three games despite Luka Dončić breaking out for 30 points in each of the first two games, allowing the Lakers to take Game 2. He suffered a stomach illness that limited him in Game 3 while LeBron James' 38 points weren't enough. This series sent JJ Redick swearing his head off onto the court into timeout at one point, and has been a struggle for starting center Jaxson Hayes. Dorian Finney-Smith, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura haven't helped out consistently. And the Wolves have received some of the best playoff performances of Julius Randle's career. He and Naz Reid shot over 50% from three through the first three games, overcoming Anthony Edwards, Mike Conley and Donte DiVincenzo's struggles from the field. Edwards scored 29 points with eight assists and eight rebounds in Game 3, shooting 12-of-26 from the field and 5-of-10 from three. Minnesota looks like the better team in this series so far, but Dončić will have at least two more words in it. 

Memphis (trail 0-3 vs. OKC): On the verge of getting swept after blowing a 29-point lead in Game 3 and losing Ja Morant to a hip injury that forced him to miss Game 4 on Saturday. The Thunder rode a 36-18 third quarter run to make it a game late, powered again by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 31 points and more than 20 from Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. A collapse from the second seed in the west at one point to a first round exit via sweep would undoubtedly lead to difficult decisions atop the Grizzlies organization. Moves ranging from the Tyus Jones-for-Marcus Smart deal, dumping Smart this season and moving on from Steven Adams years ago have all undermined the roster, but it's Morant's struggles to stay healthy and available that sit atop their list of concerns. For the Thunder, they'd advance to face the winner of Clippers-Nuggets in the second round. 

"It's a tough one," Lu Dort said of the play in transition that hurt Morant. "I was running back, making a hustle play for my team. I was running quick, stopped on a dime. I didn't know he was behind me and I was slipping, so I still tried to make a play on the ball. ... I hope he's OK. I obviously didn't mean to hit him like that."

New York (leads 2-1 vs. DET): Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns both scored 30 points and the Knicks held off the Pistons in Game 3 after losing Game 2 with a late stop and transition bucket by Brunson that iced the game. OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges both added 20, and New York has limited Cade Cunningham's efficiency despite him carrying considerable weight for the Pistons' offense. He fell to 10-for-24 in Game 3 after stealing his third win of the year at Madison Square Garden, dropping 33 on 11-of-21 in the Game 3, becoming the latest postseason thorn in the Knicks' side. That should continue as this series, 335-328 Knicks in total scoring, should drag on to at least six games. Dennis Schröder and Tobias Harris have lifted Detroit with their three-point shooting, while Malik Beasley has struggled to get going, shooting 33.3% from the field in this series. Detroit has struggled to find consistent answers for Towns (21.3 PPG) while Brunson has broken free for 33.7 PPG while parading 34 times to the free throw line, frustrating the Pistons.