The Celtics had an opportunity to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament on Friday with a win but fell short, falling to the Orlando Magic 113-96. The loss puts the Celtics at risk of missing the knockout round.
Entering Friday afternoon, the Celtics controlled their own destiny regarding reaching the knockout round, but that is no longer the case.
Orlando has finished up Group Play with a 3-1 record. The Celtics are 2-1 and play their final game Tuesday night when they host the Chicago Bulls. The Brooklyn Nets are also 2-1 in Group Play and host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. With a win, the Nets would tie the Celtics and Magic with a 3-1 record.
In that case, the tiebreaker would come down point differential between the three, an area both Orlando (+22) and Brooklyn (+8) have an advantage over the Celtics (+0).
In order to win their group, the Celtics would need to beat the Bulls by at least 23 points on Tuesday, the Nets to beat the Raptors, and the C’s would need to finish with a higher point differential than the Nets and Magic.
For the Celtics to have any chance of stealing the Wild Card spot, the C’s would need to boost their point differential with a blowout over Chicago.
Overall, Friday afternoon’s performance will make things really difficult for the Celtics to advance.
The Celtics had things going early, pouring in 30 points in the first quarter on 11-of-19 (57.9%) shooting and holding Orlando to just 19 points on 8-of-21 (38.1%) shooting, en route to building a double-digit lead.
However, the C’s cooled off quickly, as Boston was outscored each of the last three quarters. The Celtics finished the final three quarters shooting 20-of-57 (35%).
Boston finished the night shooting just 7-of-29 (24.1%) from three-point range. Their seven makes are tied for the fewest in the Joe Mazzulla era.
Mo Wagner led all scorers with 27 points on a very efficient 9-of-14 (69.2%) shooting, as the 26-year-old put on quite the show against his former team.
Here are three takeaways as the Celtics continue to struggle against Orlando, falling to 1-4 against the Magic dating back to last season.
Same ‘ole mistakes
Though the Celtics were out-toughed on Friday afternoon, failing to match Orlando’s physicality, the C’s beat themselves with the same concerning mistakes.
It started with allowing offensive rebounds.
One area on the stat sheet head coach Joe Mazzulla loves to look at is the shot attempts, and a good way to fail in that department is to give the opponent extra possessions, something that has been a serious issue for the Celtics.
The C’s surrendered 13 offensive rebounds, resulting in 21 second-chance points for Orlando. The Celtics have allowed at least 13 offensive rebounds in each of their last four games, as they have been outrebounded 57-36 on the offensive glass over that stretch.
Missed free throws were also once again an issue, as the Celtics missed 10 free throws on Friday afternoon. The C’s have now missed 10 free throws in two of their last three games.
Stumbling out of the half
Though the 2023-24 Celtics have shown improvement in many areas that have hurt them in years past, one area they have continued to struggle in is the third quarter.
For whatever reason, the Celtics have stumbled out of the halftime locker room, an issue that happened again on Friday afternoon.
The Celtics built up a 12-point lead early in the third quarter, a lead that was quickly erased courtesy of a 17-0 Orlando run.
Boston finished the third quarter with just 18 points, the second-fewest in any quarter this season, on 6-of-19 (31.6%) shooting from the field and 1-of-8 (12.5%) from deep.
Meanwhile, the Magic put up 30 points on 11-of-19 (57.9%) shooting as the Celtics failed to get anything going on either side of the ball.
The third quarter set the tone for the second half, as Boston was outscored 65-40.
Slow starts out of the half have been a chronic issue in the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era. It’s an issue that a team with such high aspirations simply can not afford to have and one the Celtics need to get to the bottom of quickly.
Health check
The Celtics were without Jrue Holiday on Friday afternoon due to a sprained ankle suffered in Wednesday night’s win over the Bucks.
Holiday’s injury doesn’t appear too serious, as he was originally listed as probable on the injury report.
Early in the first quarter, Derrick White temporarily left the game after running hard into a Paolo Banchero screen. White’s injury was ruled a left forearm contusion, and the 29-year-old returned early in the second quarter.
Kristaps Porzingis also left the game Friday afternoon due to left calf tightness in the third quarter and did not return.
After the game, the 7-foot-3 big man told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe that though he doesn’t believe the injury is serious, he plans to get an MRI on Saturday.
Boston’s next game is Sunday night against the Atlanta Hawks at TD Garden. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
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