10 takeaways from Celtics’ hard-fought battle in Orlando

10 takeaways from Celtics’ hard-fought battle in Orlando.

Before digging into the film, the box score from this game has a lot to say. Regardless of individual stats, the collective numbers are telling a story. A story of a hard-fought defensive game where the two teams were very close.

 

The Celtics, like the Magic, scored 37 baskets with a 44% field goal rate. Both teams made a little over 20 free throws, and both lost the ball around 20 times during the game. Funny enough, they also had similar rebound performances, with the Celtics grabbing 33 defensive and 8 offensive rebounds, while the Magic recorded 35 defensive boards and 7 offensive ones.

 

Yet, there is a clear difference in how the buckets were made. While the Celtics only had 13 assists, the Magic doubled that number with 26 assists—remember, both teams scored the same number of buckets. Watching the game, you could feel this difference.

Yet, there is a clear difference in how the buckets were made. While the Celtics only had 13 assists, the Magic doubled that number with 26 assists—remember, both teams scored the same number of buckets. Watching the game, you could feel this difference.

 

 

The Magic had no choice but to move the ball; one man couldn’t beat the Celtics’ defense, but their aggressive approach and excellent offensive design gave them a shot at the king—and they didn’t miss.

 

On the other end, the ball didn’t move much for the Celtics. The numbers in the tweet below sum up how the Celtics couldn’t set up their usual offense. The drive-and-kick game didn’t work well, Jayson Tatum’s playmaking was missing, and the Orlando defense adapted well to the Celtics’ game plan.

#2 – Jaylen Brown dominated the first

 

 

The game started well with total domination from Jaylen Brown, who created half of the Celtics’ points during the first 12 minutes. He was aggressive toward the rim and made six out of his eight attempts in the paint.

 

 

Jaylen Brown can power over players like KCP or Jalen Suggs, using his speed against taller defenders. The Celtics set him up in the post-up—and as we’ve discussed in previous articles—he’s getting better and better at scoring and drawing from this position. His passing was also on display in the first quarter. We saw a great flash, like the alley-oop to Al Horford below.

 

 

However, there were signs of limits in his game that show progress he still needs to make. Two passes to Luke Kornet for alley-oops weren’t converted. Of course, Kornet isn’t the easiest alley-oop target, but it’s nice to see Jaylen Brown willing to make these passes on the move.

#3 – Orlando defensive rotation took away Boston’s usual three-point shots

 

For the first time this season, the Celtics took fewer than 40% of their shot attempts from three. The second-lowest three-point rate came just two days earlier against the Bulls—could it be a trend?

 

Well, time will tell, but in the last game against Orlando, this was largely due to the Magic’s defense. Usually, the Celtics create gaps in the defense by forcing a late help or a double team following a mismatch.

 

Last night, the Magic decided to avoid double teams as much as possible and stayed close enough to each other to avoid over-helping. On Celtics drives, the defensive player on the weak side or the low man always stayed close to the paint and only rotated to the corner at the very last minute, if needed.