Celtics
The Celtics will take on a stingy Orlando defense as they begin their title defense this spring.
The Celtics finally have their first-round opponent set.
Boston will take on the Orlando Magic in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs, with Game 1 set for Sunday at TD Garden. Tip-off for Sunday’s game is set for 3:30 p.m., with Game 2 scheduled for Wednesday, April 23.
The full schedule can be found below:
The Magic earned their matchup against the defending NBA champions on Tuesday by defeating the Atlanta Hawks, 120-95, in the NBA Play-In Tournament. Cole Anthony led the way for Orlando with 26 points off the bench.
As a result of Tuesday’s victory, the Magic claim the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference and will now take on the No. 2-seeded Celtics.
The Celtics — looking to become the first NBA team to win back-to-back championships since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors — are viewed as the favorites entering Sunday’s postseason opener.
But the Magic present a unique challenge to the Celtics given their profile as an athletic, defensive-minded team that could be a thorn in the side of Boston’s 3-point-heavy approach on offense.
Despite Boston’s established track record as one of the best teams in the NBA, the Magic have been a matchup issue at times — with Orlando winning six of its last nine matchups against the Celtics over the last three seasons.
Boston went 1-2 against the Magic during the 2024-25 regular season, although both of the Celtics’ losses also came with Jayson Tatum out of the lineup.
The Magic’s bread and butter rests in their stingy defense, as they closed out the regular season leading the league by allowing just 105.5 points per game.
Orlando boasts the slowest pace in the league (96.51, just ahead of the Celtics), meaning that Jamahl Mosley’s team is operating at its best when it’s adhering to a plodding approach that limits fast-break points for the opposition.
The Magic also have the length and athleticism to try to stymie Boston’s barrage of 3-point shots, headlined by the team’s top stars in 6-foot-10 Paolo Banchero and 6-foot-10 Franz Wagner.
Even though the Magic only rank 23rd in the NBA in 3-point defense (36.5 percent), they have had success against Boston this season. The Celtics only connected on 29.1 percent of their shots from beyond the arc in their three games against Orlando this season.
Some of those stats are also skewed by the absence of Tatum, who led all NBA forwards this season with 250 3-pointers this season.
Still, even if the Magic slow down some of Boston’s high-octane offense, it remains to be seen if Orlando has the personnel in place to outscore the Celtics over a seven-game series — even if the Celtics’ shots from deep aren’t falling.
Banchero (25.9 points per game) and Wagner (24.2 points per game) could give Boston trouble, but both players also struggle to consistently sink shots from deep.
So long as both Banchero and Wagner can’t connect on 3-pointers, the Celtics could slow down Orlando’s top scorers by clogging up the paint and daring them to heave 3-point attempts.
If Boston can slow down both star forwards, the Celtics should be able to land enough punches down the other end of the court to punch their ticket to the second round.
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