Against a banged up Orlando Magic, the Celtics needed to push the pace to get in front of their banged up conference opponent
Even with their two centerpiece stars out of commission and two additional rotation players out of the lineup, the Orlando Magic were a gremlin to deal with on Monday night.
Gone was the scoring punch of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, replaced instead by a halfcourt defense that attacked out of switches, clogged the paint, blew up actions and sent aggressive off-ball help that completely flipped momentum in the second half.
The first half was a different story. A faster pace and an “attack the paint” mindset played a major role in Boston building its lead up to 15 at halftime, despite shooting just 20% from beyond the arc.
Even with a harsh holiday injury bug, Orlando’s defense has remained one of the most effective in the league, currently holding the seventh best defensive rating (110.1) in the past 10 games.
To attack a defense that’s been so effective at blowing up sets and reading actions with preternatural speed, the Celtics sped their own game up, focusing on early offense and quick-hit paint attacks.
Entering the night, an average Celtics possession lasted 15.2 seconds, tied for the 23rd slowest in the league with the Jazz and Clippers. Off any missed field goal attempt, that ticks down to 11.33 seconds (25th in the league). By the end of the first quarter, the Celtics were averaging 12.6 seconds per possession and 9.2 off misses. That rate stayed true into halftime at 12.56 seconds per possession and 9.8 off missed shots.
Off this early first quarter Orlando miss, Jaylen Brown is looking to attack after an errant Trevelin Queen layup, noticing an open paint with Goga Bitadze occupied in the corner with Derrick White.
Shortly after that bucket, Brown pulls into a mid-range look before firing a late pass to a rolling Al Horford that was created four seconds after he crossed mid-court. Notice the spacing is not out of the ordinary for the Celtics. Orlando is spread out, Bitadze is brought into the action to the perimeter with Horford’s screen, and the passing lane is wide open for Brown to fire through. Spacing like this was much harder to come by in the second half.
Even with an off-shooting night from deep, Boston was 20/30 (67%) on 2-point attempts in the first half compared to Orlando’s 13/33 (39%). In the third quarter, Boston was 3/10 on looks inside the arc, with a pace slowed down to 14 seconds per possession.
That’s in part because of Orlando’s emphasis on packing the paint and committing hard to switch/blitz screen defense that rattled Boston’s ballhandlers.
On this early third quarter turnover, Orlando has two weakside defenders touching the paint, Tristan Da Silva actively engaging the switch onto Jrue Holiday, and Jalen Suggs working with low man help from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to completely surround the rolling Kristaps Porzingis.
On this possession ending in a Queen block, Orlando has a row of defenders surrounding the paint area, with Wendell Carter Jr. playing off Luke Kornet and Da Silva sucked in with Horford in the corner. Brown looks to gain a head of steam, but Cole Anthony engages the switch hard, forcing a retreat and a kick to a popped out Payton Pritchard, who doesn’t get it off after a fantastic recovery from Queen.
The third quarter was disastrous for Boston, but the offense did produce better results in the fourth quarter.
The Magic stormed out of the gate with a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the fourth, but the Celtics did find success in their early offense again.
On this possession, Brown takes the long way around to the paint, but he gets where he needs to be with Carter defending Horford at the elbow. It’s a seven-second process that takes Orlando by surprise after a made bucket.
On this late-game play that kept hope alive, it was back to a faster process, but instead of a drive, it was a crafty ghost flare to the slot from Holiday, who gets into his action two seconds after Derrick White crosses half court.
A faster pace helped the Celtics build their lead and ultimately get back into a game that slipped away, but Orlando pulled the upset off, winning the prized 3-point battle with five more makes on just one more attempt than Boston.
The Celtics took a punch to the mouth from a banged up playoff team. With their next matchup against the Magic 24 days away, we’ll see how pace (and the availability of a number of star players) factors into this Eastern Conference matchup.