-
Baxter Holmes
Orlando, Florida – In match 1, a blatant fault of the Orlando Magic sent Jayson Tatum to crash to the court, injuring the right wrist of the Boston Celtics superstar and forcing him to miss the first match of his career in the playoff series.
In match 2, another blatant fault of the magic opened the Kristaps Porzingis front, requiring five stitches to close the bloody injury of the Celtic Center.
In the fascinating victory of Magic 95-93, match 3 Friday evening, another blatant fault by Orlando swayed Jaylen Brown on the ground, where the star swingman twisted in pain with a dislocated index on his left hand.
Thanks to three games in this first round series, the magic of the seventh seeded showed a physical style of basketball that the title champion Celtics says that they believe they are above the line.
“There could be a combat break or something because it starts to feel like it is not even basketball, and the referees do not control their environment,” said Brown, the 2024 MVP, which finished with 19 on Friday. “So that’s what it is. If you want to fight, we can do it. We can fight to see who goes to the second round.”
Adding Porzingis, which had seven points on the shot of 3 out of 10: “I mean, they are only limit fouling. It’s like that.
The Celtics, second seeded, lead the 2-1 series, with the match 4 scheduled for Sunday in Orlando. But Friday proved again that magic physics disturbed the Celtics.
Boston equaled his season with 21 reversals, which led to 26 points for Orlando. The Celtics scored only nine points of 3 points, two shy people in their lower season, out of 27 seasonal attempts. And after having led by 10 at halftime, the Celtics scored 11 points in a third quarter that changes the situation, their least in all neighborhoods this season.
The game was a SLOG overall, with 43 faults and 35 reversals. Franz Wagner led magic with 32 points and Paolo Banchero added 29.
Boston entered the day, Claire, if Tatum, her top scorer, would even play. He was listed as doubtful of what Celtic coach Joe Mazzulla said it was a “severe” bruise in his right wrist – a term which, according to him, was appropriate because the injury forced Tatum to miss the match 2.
But Tatum crossed warm -ups and returned to the starting programming with protective wrap wrap. He seemed unchanged, finishing with a summit of 36 points on a shot of 10 out of 22, to accompany his 12 attempts to throw franc and grasp nine rebounds.
“Just manage pain tolerance,” said Tatum about her performance. “Treatment and things have progressed every day, and I felt like I could try to go there and play.”
When he asked him questions about Orlando’s physicality and what Celtics could do in the future, Tatum added: “I get up.
Tatum was referring to Mazzulla, initially shouting “Get Up!” to him when he was flagrantly increased by Caldwell’s Kentavis-Pope of Orlando in match 1. Tatum remained on the field after the fault, hugging his right wrist.
“I do not trip,” said Tatum about Mazzulla’s remark. “I wanted to get up; that it was much worse than Joe thought it. It’s cool. We are continuing and we are preparing for the next match.”
Earlier in the day, Brown was listed as questionable with what the team said it was a right posterior impact. The Celtics upgraded the brown to available before Tipoff. After the match, Brown revealed the dislocation to its left index, which occurred with 10:45 am to do in the second quarter when he got tangled with the magic goalkeeper Cole Anthony.
“I came across it,” said Brown. “Léchota my index. But I have nine others, so I’m fine.”
Brown added magic: “They got away with it a lot. So if you get it out, I would also do it. It has certainly affected us, but we will be ready for match 4.”
The Celtics were also without starting goalkeeper Jrue Holiday, who sat down with tension at the right hamstrings.
The fact that these games were physical and at low score for the Celtics reflect some of the regular season matches. The Celtics made 17.8 3 points per game per game per game this season, but were on average only 10.7 against the magic of the regular season, their least compared to any team. The Magic led the NBA to mark the defense this season (105.5 points per match) and their length and their defense of change agitated Boston.
And although the Celtics are 33-8 on the road this season, they fell at 0-3 in Orlando.
“They obviously increased their ball pressure to the point of attack – a full court and half a lump,” said Mazzulla. “They did not accept so easy switches. So I would say that you have to give them credit for their defensive physicity, but we also had (documents) that we must be better.”
Orlando won the regular season series against Boston 2-1, holding the Celtics to their fewer points per game and the lowest percentage of goals on the field of any team from the Eastern Conference, according to ESPN Research. Tatum did not play in two of the three clashes.
“They are aggressive, being useful, just creating a little chaos,” said Porzingis.
“We must also bring our game and our physique. This is what the teams must do to compete with us. They have done us tonight, but we will bounce back.”
