Banner Town Breakdown: Celtics vs. Magic (August 9, 2020)
The Celtics took on the Orlando Magic in an early-evening game. As closely contested this game was, it was honestly just a super “meh” performance from the Celtics.
The Magic are a great defensive team, and have been for the past few years, but Boston is also a great offensive team. In the previous game they played, they had little trouble picking apart Toronto’s defense, who is also one of the best in the league. They, for the most part, unfortunately did not find the same success this game.
Don’t get me wrong, a bunch of players filled up the stat sheet. Jayson Tatum (29 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) had a solid performance, Jaylen Brown (19 points, 12 rebounds) had an okay game at times, and even Brad Wanamaker (10 points) looked pretty solid. Brown had the kind of night that doesn’t look super efficient on the stat sheet, but if you watched the game you know how useful he was. Not to mention a stellar performance from Gordon Hayward (31 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists).
Hayward was pretty much the only player who was consistently able to make his shots and get in a groove. He was draining shots, making smart passes, and doing everything the Celtics usually expect from him. He even had a great chase down block late in the fourth to keep the Celtics within firing distance of Orlando. Hayward was by far the best player in this game, and it wasn’t even close.
As for the Magic, they were just slightly less average than the Celtics it seemed. Neither team was super hot from three, but the Magic shot just slightly better. Oddly enough, though, the Celtics did shoot a better percentage from the field.
Nikola Vucevic (26 points, 11 rebounds) had a solid game in the paint and managed to hit a couple tough shots, too. A lot of other players just had very solid performances. One example is Terrence Ross (18 points, 7 rebounds), who while it took him a while to heat up, eventually started to get things going a little. Other than that James Ennis III (10 points, 10 rebounds), Gary Clark (15 points, 7 rebounds), DJ Augustin (12 points, 5 rebounds), and Markelle Fultz (16 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists) all scored in the double digits.
For the majority of the game it was just kind of rough to watch some of the shooting struggles the Celtics had. Although it may have been a close game, it was as if the Celtics weren’t playing to their fullest potential. They weren’t moving the ball as well as they did against Toronto, and weren’t playing with as much energy or hustle on the defensive end either. Maybe it was just me, but I just don’t think this was a great game from the C’s. This was a game they should have come out and dominated, especially after the way they beat the Raptors on Friday night.
In the fourth things did get pretty exciting, though. Vucevic had some nice scores for Orlando, Hayward made a few clutch buckets for the C’s, and Tatum came up big with a couple buckets in the final minute, one being the tying shot with three seconds left. Boston got a great stop on defense which ended up sending the game to overtime.
Speaking of overtime, it was tough to watch. Neither team looked very good on either end of the floor, and it just looked like sloppy basketball. Lots of fouls, lots of flailing, and lots of missed shots. There were more free throws made than actual field goals in the five minute overtime. In fact, the Celtics mainly scored their overtime points from the free throw line.
Although it was sloppy, Tatum did end up taking over. He drove to the paint, made some free throws, and hit a beautiful mid range fadeaway. Boston kind of game alive in the last minute of overtime, and it luckily meant they were able to squeak away with a victory. Whether that victory was deserved is a different question.
As happy as I may be that the Celtics won, I am more just upset that they played the way they did. At the end of the game they looked solid, Hayward was great throughout, and Tatum was clutch in the end, but as a team overall they were just “meh”. A lot of sloppy possessions, lackluster defense, and not nearly enough ball movement to win games.
Hopefully they can recompose themselves and figure out what they can do to play like they did against Toronto on a consistent basis. I’m sick of watching them play worse than their full potential and get into dogfights with teams they’re clearly better than. It’s like I mentioned during my breakdown of the Heat game, and what my friend @BannerTownSam always says - the Celtics always play at the level of the competition.
A very iffy win against Orlando makes the Celtics 4-2 in the bubble. They play the Grizzlies on Tuesday, August 11th at 5:00PM.
