The Orlando Magic will be looking for more secondary scoring Wednesday when they visit the Boston Celtics for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Despite 36 points from Paolo Banchero and 23 from Franz Wagner, Orlando dropped the series opener 103-86 in Boston on Sunday. No other Magic player scored more than seven points.
Orlando’s three other starters combined for 10 points: point guard Cory Joseph was scoreless, center Wendell Carter Jr. had four points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with six.
“Our ability to make sure that when we get the rebound or we do turn them over, we have to make sure we convert,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “You have to get easy baskets when you have a high-level defense as they are.”
The Magic held Jayson Tatum to 17 points and Jaylen Brown to 16, but Boston’s supporting cast provided plenty of offense. Derrick White was 7-of-12 from 3-point territory and tossed in 30 points, and Payton Pritchard came off the bench to score 19 — two more than Orlando’s non-starters.
Boston will surely need those players to step up again on Wednesday after the Celtics listed Tatum as doubtful for Game 2 after he which they might surely need to do again on Wednesday with Tatum listed as doubtful for Game 2 after he landed awkwardly on his right wrist.
“That’s something as a team we harped on coming in, is that they do have two main guys, but it’s really the other guys that kill you,” Banchero said. “I think we just have to do a better job of getting those guys off the line because they really kill you from three. … You do a good job on the main guys, but some of the role guys on the wings, they kill you. So, we have to do a better job taking them away.”
Boston trailed 49-48 at halftime, but outscored Orlando 30-18 in the third and 25-19 in the fourth.
“Looking back at it, that momentum shift in the third quarter was big,” Mosley said. “Us being deliberate and intentional in some of our defensive communication pieces … (we) had a couple mishaps. That’s what got to their spark.
“We’ve got to push that ball up the floor a lot faster so we’re not sitting down playing against a set switching defense.”
Brown scored 10 of his 16 points in the third quarter. Jrue Holiday added nine points in the third quarter after failing to score in the first half.
“I think that in the first half, (the Magic) kind of controlled the intensity level of the game,” Brown said. “They were more physical than us, and in the second half, we kind of shifted that.”
The Celtics had a momentary scare early in the fourth quarter when Tatum drove to the basket and was fouled hard by Caldwell-Pope. Tatum landed awkwardly on his right wrist and remained on the floor in obvious discomfort, but remained in the game.
Tatum said his X-ray came back negative, and he was feeling better after the game.
“I just landed on it,” he said. “It was throbbing for a second, then kind of went away.”
Following Game 2, the best-of-seven series will shift to Orlando for Game 3 (Friday) and Game 4 (Sunday).
“The goal is to try and get one (on the road),” Banchero said. “Game 2 we have to come out with a higher level of focus and just do what we can do to get a win on the road because we are not winning this series unless we do. So, that’s the goal.”
–Field Level Media
