Kristaps Porziņģis injured as Celtics fold to physical Magic in loss
The Boston Celtics know Paolo Banchero wants to get into the paint. Give him a few dribbles and he’ll either barrel through a crowd or pull up from the midrange. You have to show toughness up top and hope you can get the rebound if you force a miss.
But in a post-Thanksgiving matinee against the surprise early riser in the East, the Celtics were still in a food coma as they suffered their largest loss of the season. The Magic beat them 113-96 Friday afternoon, as Orlando pulled within one game of Boston for the top of the conference and took the lead in their In-Season Tournament group.
The Celtics have been strong early with the way they can stretch teams thin and always have a strategic answer for whatever the opponent throws their way. But they are not big and tough. The Celtics are a team of speed and skill, especially when Jrue Holiday (right ankle sprain) is in street clothes to take away that one wall on defense they can count on.
His absence was apparent when Orlando went on a run in the second quarter, and it only got worse once Kristaps Porziņģis left the game in the middle of the third quarter due to calf tightness. Porziņģis pulled up while running back on defense around the 7:09 mark of the third quarter and left for the locker room soon thereafter. The Magic were in the midst of a 17-0 run to retake the lead when Porziņģis checked himself out, then went on a 12-0 run in the late third and early fourth to blow the game open.
#NEBHInjuryReport update at Orlando:Kristaps Porzingis (left calf tightness) – WILL NOT RETURN
— Boston Celtics November 24, 2023
While Luke Kornet was keeping pace with Mo Wagner racking up points in the first half, the battle of the backup bigs — which perfectly captures the spirit of the NBA Cup — went south for Boston in the second half. Whether it was Payton Pritchard trying to guard Joe Ingles in the pick-and-roll or Boston’s help defenders failing to box out the corner crashes from Orlando, there were all sorts of examples of Boston’s defense getting squeezed into the paint.
Even when Kornet could get a stop at the rim, nobody was there to handle the box out. This was a constant throughout the game, as Porziņģis was often forced to rotate off his man to protect the rim in the first half and leave the defensive glass exposed. With Orlando’s size across the board, it knew it could be as aggressive as it wanted going to the rim or launching corner 3s and counting on a teammate to clean up the misses.
The Magic had a plus-14 rebound differential in the second half and outscored the Celtics in the paint by 24 in that stretch. Orlando dominated transition play by getting into early offense and executing. The Celtics should have expected to struggle in the rebounding battle against Orlando, but losing the second half by 25 points is a complete letdown.
“You’re definitely frustrated when you’re not making shots,” Joe Mazzulla told reporters in Orlando. “But at the end of the day, it goes back to those two things: transition and the offensive rebounds.”
This was Orlando’s fourth consecutive win over Boston, as the Magic’s jumbo lineup and high-energy guard play continue to be an issue. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown seemed to be unaware that Jalen Suggs has turned into Orlando’s best perimeter defender with the way they went at him. Everyone besides Derrick White seemed to guard Cole Anthony like he hasn’t roasted them in the past curling off screens.
“Obviously, definitely frustrated when you go empty possession after empty possession and they’re scoring off open 3s and offensive rebounds,” Mazzulla said.
The Celtics looked like they were still digesting Thursday night’s dinner at times, something the coach was asked about following the game.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with that as much as it was two stretches when they went on that 17-0 run in the middle of the third and then they went on a run in the middle of the second,” Mazzulla told reporters. “Outside of those two bad stretches, we played real good basketball. But it’s not enough against a team like this that’s a good team. So those two stretches cost us.”
It’s not like this is the first time they’ve had this kind of game this year. It’s been a trend for the past few years. They go against an opponent who wants to get cross matches out in space and hammer them, then spray it to shooters and crash the glass hard.
It’s a gambit that is hard to pull off against Boston on a consistent basis, but when Boston is missing its toughest point-of-attack defender in Holiday and has to rely on Kornet and Oshae Brissett to carry crucial minutes against a power team, it’s a recipe for success on a solid night.
Minnesota and Philadelphia exposed that earlier this year, and it’s something the Celtics will have to figure out as players start missing time. Porziņģis has been the trump card all season, but if the MRI on his calf doesn’t show good news, the Celtics will have to reshape the way they play.
That may have to come as soon as Tuesday because suddenly a run-of-the-mill game against the Chicago Bulls has more significant implications.
The Celtics were able to cut Friday’s deficit to 10 points with 2:24 left in the game, but then Banchero continued to piece them apart and expand the lead back to 17 points. That put the Celtics in a bad spot for the tournament standings, as they trail the Brooklyn Nets by eight points in the point differential tiebreaker.
They now need to beat the Bulls by 23 points while the Nets have to lose or beat the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday by no more than 14 points for Boston to have the highest point differential in the group. If the Celtics’ point differential falls between Orlando and Brooklyn, there is a convoluted long-shot pathway for them to earn one of the two wild-card spots for the East. At this point, their best bet is to blow the doors open against Chicago and take control of their chances.
And that’s what Boston needs after this one, just a chance to put a team in a deep hole and keep it there. The Atlanta Hawks come next on Sunday, and they have made defense look optional this year. Brown looks like he needs another night against a pliable defense to find his playmaking groove again. White could use a game against a weak defensive point guard so he doesn’t have to try to rack up free throws to keep his team in the hunt.
Friday was one of those games that makes a trade for another rotation big seem a lot more plausible a few months from now. It was a challenge to Pritchard to show he could step up consistently and for Sam Hauser to prove he could defend starters on a nightly basis. The Celtics were dealt a tough hand in this game, and the Magic made them fold.
(Photo: Jeremy Reper / USA Today)
