Magic (0-1) at Celtics (1-0) Round 1 Game 2 4/23/25

[jambr380]

Big grit and survived against Orlando. Big game from JB while JT was out. Hope Kristaps is OK and ready to go next game. Hope Tatum's one game off helped with his recovery

Finally, the pressure is off playing at home. Can they finally begin asserting their dominance on the road, starting at hostile Orlando Kia Center. They'll be a tough out at home based on their last postseason's run.

As somebody who attends basically every Celtics game in Orlando, I can tell you that the Celtics lose a lot here. Of course they sat everybody last game, but they lost with Paolo and Franz sitting this year and last year they blew like a 15 point 2nd half lead. Hopefully, they are a little more dialed in for for these ones. I'm just glad they don't have Suggs or Mo Wagner. The defense/physicality is already enough

[A Future of Stevens]

Kristaps loves Boston. That guy is a warrior man. Him smiling as blood runs down his face and in his hair...wild garden moment.

[celticinorlando]

I refuse to believe a team that cannot score 100 points consistently and starts Joseph, Carter and KCP can beat the Cs 4 out of the next 5 games.

[Redz]

Big grit and survived against Orlando. Big game from JB while JT was out. Hope Kristaps is OK and ready to go next game. Hope Tatum's one game off helped with his recovery

Finally, the pressure is off playing at home. Can they finally begin asserting their dominance on the road, starting at hostile Orlando Kia Center. They'll be a tough out at home based on their last postseason's run.

As somebody who attends basically every Celtics game in Orlando, I can tell you that the Celtics lose a lot here. Of course they sat everybody last game, but they lost with Paolo and Franz sitting this year and last year they blew like a 15 point 2nd half lead. Hopefully, they are a little more dialed in for for these ones. I'm just glad they don't have Suggs or Mo Wagner. The defense/physicality is already enough

Game 3 seems like the kind of game the Celts could get run off the floor and lose by 30.  A part of me feels like they?ve grown past that,  but you?ve got an Orlando squad who had come as advertised - all hustle and D and chippiness.  If one of their support guys gets hit at home the Magic could build a little lead and the Celtics may just decide that a split in Orlando will be just fine. 

Again, hope they?re past that kind of mindset, but I?m not sure we?ll get the same effort in game 3.

Loved a lot of what they did in Game 2.  Stayed in control all night with no JT.

[celticinorlando]

I get the concern about not playing well in Orlando. But many times there it feels like it is a mail in game where the Cs are not fully invested. I expect the Magic come out hard in game 3 and it will be the Cs toughest game of the series. Cs will have to survive the initial punch.

[Vermont Green]

This game was very different from game 1 in one regard, how the big rotation worked out.  In game 1, we did much better with 1-big line ups (+27/31 min) than 2-big line ups (-10/16 min).  This game, we were +11 with 2-big line ups in 30 min and -2 with 1-big line ups in 18 min.  These +/- results change every game, they can be all over the place, but in this case the big change was Tatum.  He brings enough size that you can "get away" with playing with 1-big.  Without Tatum, you need 2-bigs.

The result of being able to play Tatum and only 1 big is that you can get more skill on the floor.  Instead of Horford (for example), maybe you have Holiday or White on the floor.  Tatum gives you both, the defense and rebounding of a PF and the scoring creation of a wing.  His versatility is so valuable.

In this game, Brown was really efficient and made up for the scoring we lost without Tatum, but he is not able to replace his size.  Mazzulla had to play more minutes with 2 bigs (30 min vs. 16 min) because he didn't have Tatum.  That is the difference that Tatum makes.

[President Red]

Big grit and survived against Orlando. Big game from JB while JT was out. Hope Kristaps is OK and ready to go next game. Hope Tatum's one game off helped with his recovery

Finally, the pressure is off playing at home. Can they finally begin asserting their dominance on the road, starting at hostile Orlando Kia Center. They'll be a tough out at home based on their last postseason's run.

I'm going to Game 3, and hope that we see a good effort.  I would hope that regardless, of course, but earlier this year I attended the game in which the Celtics got embarrassed by the magic's back-up players.







As somebody who attends basically every Celtics game in Orlando, I can tell you that the Celtics lose a lot here. Of course they sat everybody last game, but they lost with Paolo and Franz sitting this year and last year they blew like a 15 point 2nd half lead. Hopefully, they are a little more dialed in for for these ones. I'm just glad they don't have Suggs or Mo Wagner. The defense/physicality is already enough

Game 3 seems like the kind of game the Celts could get run off the floor and lose by 30.  A part of me feels like they?ve grown past that,  but you?ve got an Orlando squad who had come as advertised - all hustle and D and chippiness.  If one of their support guys gets hit at home the Magic could build a little lead and the Celtics may just decide that a split in Orlando will be just fine. 

Again, hope they?re past that kind of mindset, but I?m not sure we?ll get the same effort in game 3.

Loved a lot of what they did in Game 2.  Stayed in control all night with no JT.

I'm going to Game 3, and hope that we see a good effort.  I would hope that regardless, of course, but earlier this year I attended the game in which the Celtics got embarrassed by the Magic's back-up players.  Although the Magic do have a good amount of fans, the arena here is no exception to the general rule that Celtics fans are a major presence.  Maybe it will be different for the playoffs, but usually there's a lot of green in the crowd.

[SHAQATTACK]

Great effort .  Any win is special for team missing their best player .

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

do or die for orlando. lose and the series is over.

this should be their toughest fight yet.

[Roy H.]

I refuse to believe a team that cannot score 100 points consistently and starts Joseph, Carter and KCP can beat the Cs 4 out of the next 5 games.

Agreed.  Orlando has two legit stars in place, though.  They just can't match our role players right now.

[Phantom255x]

We haven't even played our best at all yet. Been very shaky.

So another way to look at it, we can be a lot better going forward 

[Kuberski33]

I get the concern about not playing well in Orlando. But many times there it feels like it is a mail in game where the Cs are not fully invested. I expect the Magic come out hard in game 3 and it will be the Cs toughest game of the series. Cs will have to survive the initial punch.

At Orlando seems to always be part of a back to back Florida trip with Miami the next night. This team has been locked in since the start of Game 1. I don't think Game 3 will any more difficult than anything we've seen to date. If anything, either Banchero or Wagner are due for an off night - in which case we'll see a Cetics blowout. It will happen in one of the next 2 games.

[Phantom255x]

LOL I'm dying at some of the quotes about Porzingis' injury I read online

He lost his horn! [unicorn reference]

They slapped a bandage on his forehead wound like they do in that flex seal commercial

Kratos Porzingis