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Baxter Holmes
BOSTON — With 1:15 left in the second quarter Tuesday, Jayson Tatum slammed the basketball on the parquet court in frustration, and a sense of unease settled over the Boston Celtics faithful at TD Garden.
The Celtics superstar had just fouled Orlando Magic star forward Paolo Banchero, who converted a three-point play to extend his team’s lead as halftime neared in Game 5. By then, the Celtics, who led the league in 3-pointers, hadn’t made a single one. They kept turning the ball over. And the game — as with the rest of the first-round series — was being played solely on the Magic’s terms.
Before the season, the Celtics had heard the chatter that perhaps the best formula to dethrone them was to take away their beloved 3-pointers, to be more physical with them — and that doing so could ultimately force them to deviate from the style of play that led them to a championship last season and 61 wins this season. What, then, would the Celtics do? Could they find other ways to win? The seventh-seeded Magic were testing the theory — and challenging Boston enough to raise eyebrows.
And yet, after playing one of their most frustrating opening halves of the season, the Celtics trailed by just two at intermission.
Then, early in the third quarter, Banchero picked up three quick fouls, bringing his total to five. When the most potent offensive weapon for an offensively challenged team checked out with 9:46 in the quarter, the Celtics pounced, embarking on a 30-9 run, including a 24-4 run to close the quarter.
From there, the Celtics cruised to a 120-89 win to close out the Magic, win the series 4-1 and advance to face the winner of the series between the Knicks and Pistons.
The Celtics’ 31-point win is the largest by any team after trailing at halftime in NBA playoff history — and the largest win in Celtics history when trailing at halftime in the regular season or playoffs, according to ESPN Research.
As the Celtics look in the rearview at a series in which several of their players were injured on flagrant fouls charged against the Magic, they felt a measure of satisfaction not only that they won in five games but that they won by playing a version of basketball far different than their norm.
“Yeah, it was probably exactly what we needed,” said Tatum, who led the Celtics with 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. “A good test [for the] first round. A couple guys really banged up and dealing with some things. But [just] showing that mental toughness of getting up and getting ready for each game and doing whatever it takes, whatever the game calls for and figuring out a way to win. That’s all that matters this time of the year. As a group, we’ve been through it all, and we showed it and proved it this series.”
Tatum’s right wrist was injured in Game 1. Kristaps Porzingis suffered a gash on his forehead in Game 2. Jaylen Brown dislocated a finger in Game 3, and his nagging right knee remains an issue. Starting guard Jrue Holiday missed his third straight game with a right hamstring strain.
“That was a great learning experience for us to go a full playoff series, having to be physical, having to get in the trenches, rebound, flagrant fouls, play through it, physicality, play through it, and still find ways to win,” said Brown, who added 23 points for the Celtics. “That’s one of the challenges people would have said before the season: take away the 3-point shooting, play them physical, and I think we responded well to that [in] this series. So that’s something that we’ll continue to build on, but that’s great to have that in our back pocket and take that going forward in the playoffs.”
Much was made of Orlando’s physicality, but Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla defended his team.
“They had to deal with our physicality as well, and they had to deal with our defense,” he said. “I thought that was the theme of the series, was the trenches and the physicality there. Every series, every game presents lessons. You have to take those lessons if you’re fortunate to move on, so there’s a lot that we can learn from this series, and we’ve got to be ready for whoever we play against.”
In a way, the Celtics proved — and perhaps sent a message to the rest of the league — that Orlando’s approach might have been successful enough to give the Celtics trouble, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to keep Boston from dispatching the Magic in five games.
“We want to shoot 60 3s when we’re out there, run and gun, play fast, and we couldn’t do that,” Celtics center Al Horford said. “Sometimes you have to get it done in different ways.”
But Game 5 still proved a slog early on for Boston.
The Celtics averaged a league-high 17.8 made 3-pointers during the regular season, but they didn’t make any in the opening half. (The Celtics hadn’t gone an entire half without making a 3-pointer since Oct. 30, 2021, when they went 0-for-15 in the first half at Washington, according to ESPN Research.)
The Celtics also averaged a league-high 48.2 3-point attempts during the regular season, but in the first half, they attempted only six. (That figure marked their lowest in any half this season; their previous low was 13, which happened four times, including twice against the Magic in this series.)
But everything turned on Banchero’s quick fouls in the third quarter.
“He’s the life-force of [their] team,” Brown said.
Brown and Tatum combined for 24 points in the third quarter, nearly twice as many as Magic scored as a team (13). In the second half, the Celtics made 13 of 18 3-pointers, with each long-distance make drawing huge cheers from a crowd that finally saw Boston’s patented offense unleashed.
Tatum’s outing marked his third straight with 35 or more points, tying Larry Bird’s 1987 run for longest streak in Celtics playoff history. Tatum joined Bird in 1984 as the only players in Celtics history with 35 points and 10 assists in a series-clinching win.
Tatum reflected after the win on his demeanor this season since winning a title a year ago.
“This season was the most relaxed and carefree that I’ve been in my career, understanding that we won last year and we accomplished the ultimate goal and you kind of got that monkey off your back,” he said. “So obviously the goal is still the same this year to win and compete for a championship, but I’ve just enjoyed this season of playing carefree basketball and not having that hang over my head. It’s been fun to do and just a sense of freedom. I’ve just carried the season with that.
He continued, “It just kind of allows me to focus on the task ahead. I’m not worried about trying to prove anybody wrong or anything like that. Just understanding I know what I’m capable of, I know what we are when we play a certain way. We’ve shown that. So it’s all about getting to that level.”
