Celtics vs Magic Game 5 Review
The Celtics complete the gentlemen sweep over the Magic, in a dominant 120-89 victory. The dominance did not start immediately however, with the Magic leading the Celtics 49-49 at halftime, and giving them troubles extremely early in the game. The Magic jumped out to an early 21-13 lead, once again giving the Celtics issues offensively.
Credit:
Celtics
Now for the negatives. The biggest one is what I have preached all series, and that is slow starts, particularly with the turnovers. The Celtics have struggled all series to start fast, but then they adjust and play much better in the 2nd half, particularly in the third quarter. But this is not something that should be relied on. Most teams will not have the personnel to match Orlando's physicality, but teams will absolutely attempt to replicate it. Now that the series is over, they have the experience and time to prepare for this going forward.
The Celtics had 11 turnovers for the game, 6 being in the first quarter. Nearly every game this series, it takes the Celts a quarter or 2 to fully get a feel for Orlando's physicality. These playoffs have been discussed as the most physical playoffs in recent memory, and this series is a huge contributor to this conversation.
The good news for the Celtics is, they have
In the second quarter, much of the same would continue offensively, with the team shooting 11/20 from the field, and holding the Magic to 6/21 shooting. Going into the third, the Celtics trailed by two. But that quickly changed, with Jaylen Brown taking over the start of the third with 9 points, and they never looked back. Paolo Banchero was in foul trouble, and only played 2 minutes of this quarter, and it was glaring. The Celtics held the Magic to 13 points on 6/22 shooting from the floor and 0/11 from 3.
The opposite was the case for Boston, scoring 36 points on 11/17 and 5/8 from three. The Celtics three point shooting has been minimized in this series, to the point where in this same game, only 6 threes had been taken in the first half, with none being made. But once again, Mazzulla made halftime adjustments then took over the third and never looked back.
This entire series, Boston had been unable to play a complete game. While the first 5-7 minutes of this game were rough, after that it was near perfect basketball. They were efficient, the minimized the turnovers, they took smart, patient shots from the field and from three, they got to the line, and the bench contributed. Pritchard, Hauser and Kornet have all struggled in this series, getting played off the floor multiple times defensively and doing cardio offensively, but that was not the case in this game.
Those three combined on 29 points on 11/15 shooting and 4/6 from three, which allowed the starters to not have to play heavy minutes. It cannot be overstated how important it is that the bench steps up going forward. Not only will they have to take more shots and be a threat offensively, but defensively they have to be contributing as well, specifically Kornet. Pritchard and Hauser will always be limited defenders, you just have to hope they aren't getting targeted. With Kornet, he has to be a true positive.
Horford cannot be someone who plays heavy minutes in the playoffs, and Porzingis is always someone you hold your breath for when he is playing, so Kornet will have to maintain his regular season play for the Celtics to have a chance against the top teams.
Offensive rebounding was not a series long issue, but it was in this game. The Magic had 15 offensive boards to Boston's three, with 15 second chance points to Boston's three. This is not as big of a concern because it was a one game issue, but still something to look out for. The Celtics will likely take on the New York Knicks, and while they are not a strong rebounding team, Mitchell Robinson is, averaging 3 offensive rebounds in the regular season and 4 so far in the playoffs. Against a team with more firepower, 2nd chance points could be a problem for the Celtics, so they will need to make sure this is an area of focus.
For the series, I would give the Celtics a C. They dominated in two games, but struggled mightily in the other three, with a lot of strengths being neautrilized, particularly the three point shooting. While the team shot a high percentage for the series at 37.8%, they averaged 17 less threes per game. The bench, specifically Hauser and Pritchard, while efficient, dropped considerably in points because they simply did not attempt many threes. The Celtics have to get back to what makes them great in the next series, and I believe they will.
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