10 takeaways from Boston’s stumble against a resilient Magic team

#1 – Jayson Tatum wrist looks good

That has been the main concern for the last few days: what is happening with Jayson Tatum’s right wrist? Most of the questions before the game were around that, and Jrue Holiday or Jaylen Brown’s health. Well, Tatum’s first half just threw away any doubts there were regarding his physical condition.

He played 20 minutes and scored 21 points in the first half. What was impressive, knowing the injury, is how well he was able to both drive and pull up. He didn’t seem to have any problem manipulating the ball. The shooting movement was pure and he was able to hunt Wendell Carter Jr. with drives or pull-ups.

Another great sign of how he feels and how confident he is in his wrist was how he went after the ball against KCP on the floor. It’s a detail, but it shows he is playing with intention and is not scared of what could happen.

The team felt far better when he was on the floor yesterday, and that isn’t a surprise seeing how well he performed.

#2 – Orlando defense forced turnovers

Yet, despite Jayson Tatum returning, the Celtics faced some trouble on offense with a lot of turnovers. After 24 minutes, they had lost the ball 11 times, giving the Magic a lot of transition opportunities. In the second quarter, Orlando put a lot of pressure on the ball handlers and were able to turn defense into offense.

Joe Mazzulla did a great job of calling a timeout and designing great plays for the Celtics to get going and find their way back into the game. Like the play below where Luke Kornet set a first screen for Kristaps Porzingis, who ran towards the ball but cut into open space. This created a gap, and Porzingis did a great job of sending the ball to Kornet.

When a defense is this aggressive on the ball, off-ball movement is a great way of creating a gap within a strong defensive shell. However, this wasn’t enough as the Celtics kept piling up turnovers.

With questionable passes, offensive fouls, or a carry, Boston ended up with 19 turnovers over the game. This gave way too many opportunities for Orlando to compensate for their bad offense.

#3 – Celtics were 10 points ahead the half

Late in the second, the Celtics found a way to answer the adversity. Led by Jayson Tatum, the Celtics were able to close the first half and go to the locker room with a 10-point lead.

What felt different in that stretch was how quickly the Celtics were getting into action after a make or a miss. They took advantage of the Magic’s average offense to build a lead and attacked as early as possible. Their defense is so good at slowing you down and making you take a shot in the last second, the Celtics need to attack early and make them pay for their lack of offensive power.

Because Tatum started to feel hot, the Magic were more concerned by his scoring and his gravity was higher late in the quarter. They did their best to take the ball away from his hands. But, led by White, the Celtics did a good job of building the momentum off that and closing the first half very strong.

#4 – Problematic pick-and-roll defense

The Orlando Magic found weaknesses in the Celtics’ defense early in the second half and just went after it. Indeed, the pick-and-roll defense around Kristaps Porzingis was quite problematic last night. At first, the Celtics were in drop coverage. This means they didn’t switch after a screen on the ball, but instead Porzingis closed the driving lane. This gives some space to pull up or to gain speed to drive.

A drop coverage requires other players to help from the side. The Magic were able to force Al Horford to help while he also had to defend Franz Wagner. Having to deal with both is a lot to ask from one player, and the Magic exploited this defensive coverage.

When Porzingis was on the bench, the Celtics went back to a switching defense and it worked way better, despite Jrue Holiday’s absence. However, to finish the game, they put Porzingis back in and stayed in the same switch coverage. This was an opportunity for Wagner to keep attacking him after a switch, and he cooked him to finish the game.

Looking forward to seeing what the Celtics coaching staff have in mind to fix the pick-and-roll defense.

#5 – Losing the possessions battle

Joe Mazzulla talks a lot about shot margin. The goal for his team is to take more shots than the opponents, and that wasn’t the case last night. One of the reasons was the defensive rebounding — or more the lack of it.

Despite playing a lot of minutes with two bigs, the Celtics let the Orlando Magic grab an offensive rebound on 39% of their misses. That’s a lot, especially against a team that misses a lot of shots.

With that, plus the turnovers, the Celtics gave a lot of opportunities to the Magic, and they capitalized on it. We often say that offense starts with defense, but the other way around works too. With an offense that couldn’t find its usual flow, it was harder to play great defense after a miss or a turnover.

#6 – Orlando tried to not switch

So why couldn’t the Celtics have their regular offensive flow? Well, of course the aggressiveness and the length of the Magic players didn’t make things easier. But there were also some adjustments. So far in the series, the Magic were switching a lot, even when it wasn’t necessarily their strength.

Well, in the second half of the game, they had enough of making it easy for the Celtics to hunt mismatches and decided to fight over screens. This created bigger gaps in the defense, but the Celtics didn’t exploit it. They are so used to going after mismatches that the space created with the screens wasn’t used properly.

On top of that, the Magic were very disciplined when switching off-ball too, always trying to keep Jonathan Isaac or Wendell Carter Jr. close to the rim. Their defensive alignment was well prepared, and the Celtics weren’t able to break it.

#7 – Porzingis post-up struggle

Another complicated game on the offensive end for Kristaps. We talked about his defensive struggles already, and looking at his offensive stats, that might have been the worst game he had as a Celtic. The first good thing out of it is that he seems pretty aware of it.

He keeps looking for these turnaround jumpers from the mid-range, but when those don’t go in, it becomes problematic. Usually, defenses are scared by KP at the post-up and send extra defenders to help, which creates gaps. But Orlando doesn’t care and dares KP to make those shots, even with Cory Joseph.

The Celtics will need to find a way to give him better spots, closer to the rim with more screens and more movement, because as of now, his scoring efficiency has been quite problematic against the Magic.

#8 – The Celtics need to go after Paolo Banchero

If the Celtics are looking for a weak link to attack in Orlando’s defense, he is 22 years old and wears the number five. No matter if it’s with or without the ball, the elite Magic defense can be tortured if you focus on him. He has a hard time following the ball and his player at the same time. He jumps on every fake, he isn’t that quick after a strong first step — a perfect target.

The Celtics usually go after tall centers or small guards, but this might be the time to pick on the opposing go-to guy. Make him work on defense and maybe force a couple of fouls that could get him in trouble.

#9 – Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face

What I love about this loss is that it gives the Celtics an opportunity to respond. Nobody is supposed to win all their games, but champions are the ones that fight back and adapt after losing a battle. The blueprint of that defeat was easy to trace.

The Celtics need to be better at rebounding after a miss, must take care of the ball, and should find a way to protect Porzingis on defense while giving him better opportunities on offense. When they will — because they will — the answer will resonate stronger. This is a great opportunity for us to learn about this team and for the team to learn about itself.

#10 – No, it doesn’t need to be a fight

Jaylen Brown said that, if the Magic players want, they can fight it out for the right to get to the second round. Let’s not? First, the Celtics have a better chance to dominate on a basketball court than in a ring. Second, the beautiful art of basketball can be physical sometimes, but let’s keep it fun and show who’s the better team by making shots.