NBA Matchups: April 25

Happy Friday! As a reminder, I do not write NBA Matchups on the weekend unless it’s for a Game 1 of a series. We’ll be back on Monday.

BOS @ ORL | IND @ MIL | LAL @ MIN

Boston Celtics at Orlando Magic

Team Totals: Celtics 101, Magic 96.5

Injury Report: Jrue Holiday (Q, hamstring), Jayson Tatum (D, wrist)

Magic projected starters: Cory Joseph, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr.

Celtics projected starters: Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis

Offensive Ranks: Magic 26th, Celtics 3rd
Defensive Ranks: Magic 2nd, Celtics 5th

Mosley quotes: Said they were still fighting despite trailing, said it was “sickening” that the Celtics won the FTA battle, said KCP is “defending his tail off” for them, said they really have to get downhill more and try to play with faster pace, said they were getting good looks in the third but they are not going down (was asked why they are getting killed in the third), said Goga was out there for some of the minutes against Porzingis and they wanted Wendell more for the Horford C lineups, said Franz is getting good looks but some credit goes to Boston for how they’re covering him, said Paolo told him he didn’t want to rest in the fourth.

Mazzulla quotes: Said there’s “no question” that they were willing to trust Jaylen Brown and “he’s a warrior,” said they were fouling a little too much in Game 2, said he had “no idea” when Tatum was going to be ruled out, said the guys were physical and they executed the game plan, said KP is playing with so much toughness and he’s been great at protecting the paint, said “I like watching [KP] bleed” to show how tough he is.

Stats and Notes:

*The Magic were able to get their offense off the ground with a 113.6 offensive rating in Game 2 thanks to taking care of the ball and cashing in on a lot of mid-range shots. The Magic were still unable to get enough at the rim and they just don’t have the 3-point volume to hang around. Plus, they’re just playing too slowly and are not a team that’s been able to generate enough transition. In two games, Orlando’s offense is at just 16.5 seconds per possession, and even off defensive rebounds they’re at a playoff-low 14.3 seconds per possession. It’s just not enough. The Celtics’ offense did get slowed down quite a bit with their worst eFG% in a game this month (among games they didn’t rest everyone). They missed Jayson Tatum quite a bit, and the Magic held them to their second-lowest 3-point frequency since March 5. They also could not generate enough at the rim and the Magic held their C&S 3PAs down to 24.0 per game (averaged 30.7). Boston’s FTAs kind of saved them a bit here, and maybe Orlando can slow them down even more at home.

*Jaylen Brown looked 100% on Wednesday with a 36-point game over 42 minutes. He led the team in drives and touch time, as he essentially moved into the Jayson Tatum role. The Magic just don’t help off and they’re likely committed to trying to limit C&S stuff again, and Brown should have no problems taking it to Franz Wagner again. I love JB here.