The Celtics put up 103 points in their Game 1 win over the Orlando Magic. While the point total is low for an NBA game in 2025, the Celtics offense hummed along nicely. The Celtics had a 124.1 offensive rating — an efficiency that would have led the league in the regular season — and it was ultimately the pace of the game that kept the score low.
But while the Celtics offense did what the Celtics offense does, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis combined to shoot 15-of-44 from the field. I dove in to see what could be done to help the top three scorers on the Celtics get back on track.
From a process standpoint, I thought Kristaps Porzingis stood out as the guy who stands to benefit the most from tightening the screws. Due to the Magic’s switching defense, the Porzingis pick-and-pop game will be hard to come by in this series. This is where slipping and ghosting screens can be used as a counter to those switches.
Porzingis and D White get into their two-man game, Porzingis does a nice job slipping the switch, and Derrick hits him on the short roll. Once KP has the ball, two defenders come to the ball. KP could have hit either Jaylen or Al for three. Instead, KP takes a dribble with two active defenders around his knees, which leads to an easy turnover. KP needs to either make that pass, or keep the ball high on the catch and take a short range jump shot.
Jaylen did a great job collapsing the defense with his drives in Game 1. However, the spacing on these drives can be better.
As soon as Jaylen drives, Porzingis cuts to the basket, which brings Franz Wagner over to clog the driving lane. Once KP sees that JB is driving, he needs to stop cutting and space back to the three-point line. Jaylen could have hit Al in the corner here as well.
Don’t worry KP, you didn’t do anything wrong in this next play. I just want to see more of this. Another way to counter a switching defense, is to get the defender on your back and create a passing lane into the paint.
Porzingis executes this perfectly. KP gets Franz Wagner on his back, and Tatum hits him for the easy pass. This was a good foul from Wagner, as this would have led to either a high-quality attempt at the rim, or if Banchero had come to help, an easy read to Horford in the corner. We should see more of this in Game 2 from the Celtics.
Again, Jaylen was effective in collapsing the defense all game with his drives to the rim. The Celtics just need to get the spacing right.
Jaylen breaks down the defense, and then it’s classic Celtics basketball, a dump off to Luke, a kick to Al in the corner, another drive….to a clogged paint. Jaylen needs to space to the corner, so Horford can hit him. But thankfully, Luke is there to clean it up.
More Jaylen driving to the rim. We love to see him trust his body after dealing with this knee injury. Now, he needs to trust his game; Jaylen needs to feel the defense collapsing.
Once Jaylen touches the paint, Banchero and Carter suck in to deter Jaylen’s shot at the rim. Jaylen feels it a beat too late and tries to kick out to Jrue. If Jaylen gets to two feet, he can process the collapsed defense, and then kick to shooters, or pump fake to finish or draw the foul.
Easy for me to say from behind the keyboard, with the ability to pause and rewind, but I do think Jaylen getting to two feet and giving himself time to make a play from there can lead to more opportunities to get into the drive and kick game.
When it comes to Tatum, I thought his process was excellent. There were a few possessions where he settled, other than that he just missed shots.
Tatum can make these jump shots. But taking those shots is letting the defense off the hook. He can turn these opportunities into free throws, or shots at the rim.
Other than those attempts, Tatum’s shot diet was perfect. He just needs to knock them down. These are all shots Tatum makes on a regular basis.
I trust Tatum to make his layups and knock down a couple of threes.
All in all, the Orlando Magic should be concerned that there is still a lot of meat left on the bone for Boston’s top three offensive weapons.
