I am higher on Orlando than most others. So I understand why I see them as more of threat than some do.
I think they are the best team in the league at uglying up games. They have an excellent defense. They are big and athletic. They are difficult to matchup with. Thankfully, their offense is limited which stops them from being an elite team. But they can take you down to their level with their defense.
They remind me a lot of the Miami teams Boston has struggled with in the previous 3 postseason matchups. Boston was the better team in all 3 matchups and should have won all 3 matchups. Instead they lost 2 and only won 1. Miami was able to ugly things up. They had a star in Jimmy Butler. They had physicality. That messed Boston up.
Porzingis is the piece that gives Boston resilience against these types of squads. Without Porzingis, Boston will be much more like the teams of the past that struggled with Miami. We have seen it in the regular season. How more perimeter orientated they become with Porzingis. Whether it is shooting 3s or drives from 25 feet. Little movement or action inside the arc.
Orlando do not get credit for how difficult they are to matchup with in terms of size and physicality. Especially at the forward slots. Boston normally has an advantage with Tatum and Jaylen at forward given their skill, quickness and athleticism. Very few teams can matchup effectively with them. Orlando can. They have Franz Wanger, Banchero and J Isaac. They have 3 big physical forwards to throw at our two best scorers and make them play on both ends of the court.
They have solid matchup at center with Wendell Carter Jr against Horford. I see an advantage at backup center with Mo Wagner against Boston's more limited (Kornet) or more defensive orientated options (Tillman).
They have the best defensive guard in basketball in Suggs. They have a solid guard in Gary Harris. Cole Anthony is a wild card. He has struggled so far but he is the type of small quick PG that causes problems for our bigger combo guards.
I would be surprised if Orlando did not play Boston very tough in several games in this series and won 2. I would also expect BOS to blow them out in the other games because they will be games were ORL's offense backfires so spectacularly that they cannot compete. So BOS blowouts and hard fought games.
If BOS chokes like they have done in playoffs past against tough defensive teams, this could easily become one of those head scratchers like Miami beating BOS 2 out 3 times. It could be one of those ones where it goes 7 against MIL despite them not having Middleton.
I do expect a series against Orlando to go at least 6 games. And it is because they are so good at uglying up the game. And BOS are more vulnerable to that without Porzingis.