The short-handed Orlando Magic secured another win against Joe Mazzulla’s Boston Celtics.
There’s something about the Orlando Magic that gives the Boston Celtics fits. Orlando are now 3-2 over their last five games against the reigning champs.
Dec. 18, 2022: Magic 95, Celtics 92
Nov. 24, 2023: Magic 113, Celtics 96
Dec. 15, 2023: Celtics 128, Magic 111
Dec. 17, 2023: Celtics 114, Magic 97
Dec. 23, 2024: Magic 108, Celtics 104
Not many teams boast a winning record against Joe Mazzulla’s team. Yet somehow, some way, Jahmal Mosley has figured out a recipe to concoct misery.
Boston’s night got off to a bad start when Jayson Tatum was a late scratch due to illness. Therefore, we had another night when the Celtics’ core starting five was unable to get some much-needed reps in.
We’re 29 games into the season, and the starting lineup of Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis has played a grand total of 187 possessions together. They averaged -4 points per 100 possessions over the small sample size.
Without Tatum on the floor, the Celtics looked to Brown to lead the line — both as the primary scorer and lead playmaker.
Coming into last season, the narrative surrounding Brown was built on his assist-to-turnover ratio. Mazzulla’s system emphasizes ball and player movement, so questions over Brown’s ability to control and dictate play faded into the background.
Still, after 568 regular-season games, Brown’s assist-to-turnover rate remains close to 1:1. He’s dished out 1416 dimes and turned it over 1181. That’s an AST:TOV of 1.2/1.
So, it should be no surprise that against the Magic, Boston’s ball movement fell by the wayside. Look, this isn’t a knock on Brown. He’s taken significant leaps with his passing and defensive manipulation in recent years. Furthermore, it’s important to remember that playmaking and assists are related but not the same. They’re cousins, or better yet, second cousins.
Take this play, for example. Brown may have gotten the assist, but his pass was aimed at creating a give-and-go with Horford. Instead, his hard cut to the rim ended up being his playmaking moment, drawing the defense and making some additional space for Horford to get his shot off.
The pass was inconsequential; the cut created the play. Although both aspects are related, only one made a genuine impact.
Why is this important? Because for most of this game, Boston’s ball movement was a shadow of its usual self. Instead, we saw more ‘high’ and ‘side’ pick-and-roll, with a heavy dose of isolation basketball. Why? Because that’s where Brown thrives, and without Tatum in the rotation, there wasn’t a genuine creator on the floor.
“There’s no reason to be upset that we lost, because this team is built around Jayson Tatum,” Billy Calabrese said on today’s Celtics Chronicle podcast. “They’re not built around Jaylen Brown. If Jaylen Brown was the number one option. Brad would have a totally different kind of team around him. He’d have better ball handlers around him. He’d have a different type of bigs around him. But this team is built to accentuate Jayson Tatum. And that includes Jaylen Brown.”
Brown is an elite forward—one of the best in the league. However, he is not a point forward or primary ball-handler, yet that was the role he was tasked with playing. Part of that is due to Derrick White’s working through a slump.
Another part is because Brown was the best player on the floor, and you want to feature that talent at every turn — especially when the threes aren’t dropping, and your best player is also an unstoppable force when getting downhill.
When the Celtics are playing through Brown, they must adjust how they set up actions. They can’t task him with creating for others when they’re asking him to operate as a play finisher. Furthermore, outside of Tatum, the roster is filled with self-creators rather than genuine playmakers. So, the approach must change. White or Holiday must initiate the actions, with the focus on getting Brown going downhill or working out of the post.
Of course, that’s easier said than done when playing against a defense as stern as Orlando’s.
Earlier this season, when the Celtics lost to the Golden State Warriors, I noted how Steve Kerr may have laid out a blueprint to stifle the Celtics on the perimeter. Orlando didn’t need much help—they’re ranked third in the NBA for defensive rating—but they certainly looked to build on the platform the Warriors had provided.
To recap:
- The Celtics have struggled against high pick-up points
- Getting into their air space and under their hips has led to good results for a defense
- Bursting through screens to kill spatial creation has led to difficult decision-making
- Hard close-out secondary pressure coming from the side has worked in funneling Boston toward the paint.
Take a look at that clip above. Orlando’s defensive intensity in that possession really stood out to me — and it was the sign of things to come as they ramped up their execution in the second half.
“They forced more live ball turnovers with their pressure and their physicality,” Joe Mazzulla said during his postgame news conference. “We had three empty possessions to start the third quarter…Once you get it close, their team thrives on that…Once they smelt that they had a chance they were able to thrive on that, and it was a close game, anything can happen.”
When you’re playing against a team that knows how to get into you, and you’re operating in a system designed with someone else in mind as the spearhead, things can get a little clanky.
Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Brown, Horford and Pritchard all had tough nights on the perimeter. Watch the above defensive clip again. Look how quickly the Magic moves to suffocate any space while also denying passing lanes and forcing you into difficult decisions.
Boston’s spacing can alleviate some of that pressure, but now, when the ball isn’t falling from deep—or, more importantly, when nobody is cutting without the ball and screening actions are scarce outside of the PnR—Orlando didn’t just stymie the Celtics’ on-ball creation; they took everything away, leaving Boston looking like the roster in the final year of Brad Stevens’ tenure.
Fortunately, the Celtics found some rhythm on the defensive end. Their double-big lineup has been a saving grace over the past few games, especially in terms of weakside rim protection and extra size along the baseline.
Seeing Porzingis rotate over and either impact shot releases or get to the shot for a block has been a fun addition to the season. After all, he’s been missing a large chunk of the games thus far, and since he’s been back, it’s clear he’s been working toward full fitness.
You can also see Luke Kornet in the above clip. I like how he’s comfortable guarding up on the perimeter. He can shift between an ‘up-to-touch’ coverage, drop coverage or even guarding straight up near the three-point line. Having Porzingis down on the block makes it far more palatable to have Kornet’s size up top, as you’re not compromising on rim protection or length.
The Celtics may boast one of the league’s best records (third behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder,) but Orlando is emerging as their kryptonite. While Tatum’s absence certainly impacted their offensive rhythm, the Magic’s defensive blueprint exposed deeper concerns about Boston’s ability to adjust when teams successfully disrupt their preferred offensive patterns — or take away their ability to flow into their early-offense or staple half-court sets.
Example staple action: ‘Quick Fist’ (this ends in a lob of Luke Kornet.)
These regular-season setbacks could prove valuable for Mazzulla’s squad, as they highlight the potential need for counterpunches against aggressive perimeter defense.
While the Celtics’ offense is deliberately built around Tatum’s unique skillset—with Brown thriving as an elite play finisher rather than a primary creator—the Magic have exposed some vulnerabilities in that approach when Tatum is out of the rotation.
Come playoff time, Mosley’s young squad has shown that it has the defensive template and competitive confidence to challenge even the NBA’s elite.
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CelticsBlog graciously allowed this article to be cross-posted from my “Celtics Chronicle” newsletter.