JD Davison, Jordan Walsh, Torrey Craig, and Sam Hauser all checked into Sunday’s Game 1 with just over a minute to play. After putting the opener out of reach, the Boston Celtics were clearing their bench en route to a 1-0 series lead over the Orlando Magic.
The path to that moment wasn’t always a pretty one, though.
Boston actually found themselves down one point to the Orlando Magic at halftime, after the visitors erased a 12-point deficit.
How’d they do it?
Well, they turned up the physicality on the Celtics.
Orlando started crashing the offensive glass to create second chances for themselves, while making Boston work for every opportunity on the offensive end. The final seven minutes of the first half were unkind to the Cs, who scored just six points as the Magic climbed ahead.
According to head coach Joe Mazzulla, Boston’s cold spell started on the glass.
“I thought because we were getting out-rebounded, we weren’t able to get out in transition there, and that kind of slowed us down,” said Mazzulla of his team’s tough finish to the first half. “So, I thought our poise for a quarter and a half was great. I thought their physicality bothered us in the middle of the second quarter, like in the six offensive possessions (where we struggled).”
The team’s poise is a very “on the nose” point from Mazzulla.
I’d be remiss to sit here and pretend like there weren’t signs right from the jump, that the Magic were going to try and play a physical game.
For example, this “no easy buckets” type of foul from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sent Jayson Tatum crashing to the floor early in the first quarter.
We also got our first glimpse at the type of hustle that the seventh seed was going to be playing with when Anthony Black checked into the game and ripped down three quick offensive rebounds. He and other Magic players made a habit of disrupting the rebounding process for Boston, even if they didn’t quite grab the board.
There were lots of deflected and tipped rebound chances, like this, early on.
These plays didn’t make a massive impact at the time because Orlando struggled to score. But once the ball started to find the bottom of the net, things changed.
Asked Jaylen Brown about the shift at the half:
“They were more physical than us. The second half, we kind of shifted that.”
“There’s gonna be a lot of that this series. Can’t expect nothing less. It’s gonna be more fight than it is skill. Our guys got to be ready to fight.” pic.twitter.com/jvyAL0DAtX
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) April 20, 2025
Fortunately for Celtics fans, the team didn’t sit back and let the Magic continue to control everything. In fact, they were able to turn the game on its head by matching the Magic’s physical style of play.
Veteran guard Jrue Holiday spearheaded that third-quarter resurgence for them.
“His individual defense took on the challenge of his matchup, and I thought he did a great job on both ends,” Mazzulla explained. “His defense led to our offense.”
Holiday turned his defensive intensity to the max and had Franz Wagner in a torture chamber. Wagner scored just eight second-half points, after pouring in 15 in the first.
The two-time All-Star’s physicality created offensive opportunities for the team, as Mazzulla said. More specifically, those opportunities came his way.
Take a look at these clips.
Holiday makes Wagner look silly on two separate occasions, then comes down and drills a pair of threes.
Boston’s Dr. Evil took over, scoring nine points, dishing four assists, and swiping a pair of steals in the period.
It’s remarkable how upset Bradley Beal got with the idea of having to play a similar role for his Phoenix Suns this season.
Nonetheless, the rest of the Celtics’ squad followed suit, dialed their defense up, and became more disruptive. They forced six turnovers in the third alone and completely changed the momentum.
Orlando’s passes were getting deflected and/or stolen, Boston was running in transition, and the lead was all of a sudden up to 13 heading into the fourth quarter.
Their championship-level response was a reminder of what it takes to compete for a title. Orlando did a great job of disrupting their mojo, and it didn’t sink them. This won’t be the last time we see a team try and outwork the Celtics or push them around this spring. The real test will be if they push back.
