2024-25 Eastern Conference First-Round Preview: No. 7 Orlando Magic v. No. 2 Boston Celtics

2024-25 Eastern Conference First-Round Preview: No. 7 Orlando Magic v. No. 2 Boston Celtics

The 2024-25 NBA Postseason is officially here! On Saturday, we had a litany of good action to tip the playoffs–despite the anticlimactic final three quarters of Lakers-Timberwolves.

Anyway, on Sunday, the reigning champion Boston Celtics take the court, hoping to defend their title and become the first repeat champion in nearly a decade. They will square off with the No. 7 Orlando Magic, who crushed the Atlanta Hawks to clinch their second-straight postseason berth.

Since the Magic were Vendetta’s team, many are wondering who Trey will be rooting for. Maybe he’s rooting for both teams to have fun, but I can’t nor will speak for him. OK, that’s enough rambling. Let’s dive into it!

GAME	DATE	MATCHUP	TIME (EST)	TV
Game 1	Sunday, April 20	Magic @ Celtics	3:30 p.m.	ABC
Game 2	Wednesday, April 23	Magic @ Celtics	7 p.m.	TNT
Game 3	Friday, April 25	Celtics @ Magic	7 p.m.	ESPN
Game 4	Sunday, April 27	Celtics @ Magic	7 p.m.	TNT
Game 5*	Tuesday, April 29	Magic @ Celtics	TBD	TBD
Game 6*	Thursday, May 1	Celtics @ Magic	TBD	TBD
Game 7*	Thursday, April 3	Magic @ Celtics	TBD	TBD

* — if necessary

What to know about the Orlando Magic:

Starters:

• Cory Joseph
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
• Franz Wagner
• Paolo Banchero
• Wendell Carter Jr.

Key Reserves:

• Jonathan Isaac
• Cole Anthony
• Gary Harris
• Anthony Black

The Magic were Vendetta’s breakout team heading into the 2024-25 season. Unfortunately, with a season mired by injury and poor offense, Orlando finished 41-41. It ended with the NBA’s fourth-worst offensive rating, including the worst 3-point percentage. Orlando’s offense was better toward the end of the season, but it’s still not a particularly trustworthy unit yet.

That said, Orlando had one of its best offensive games of the season against the Hawks Tuesday. It sported a 130.2 offensive rating (91st percentile)–its sixth-best mark of the season–with a 55.9 effective field goal percentage (73rd), 9.3 turnover percentage (91st) and 32.6 offensive rebound rate (73rd), according to Cleaning The Glass.

The Magic have overwhelming positional size and have consistently been one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. We will see how long that takes them against the reigning champs.

What to know about the Boston Celtics:

Starters:

• Jrue Holiday
• Derrick White
• Jaylen Brown
• Jayson Tatum
• Kristaps Porzingis

Key Reserves:

• Payton Pritchard
• Al Horford
• Sam Hauser
• Luke Kornet

Few reigning champions win 60 games the following season. Well, the Celtics did, becoming the first reigning champ to do so since the Golden State Warriors won 73 games after winning the NBA Title in 2014-15.

Boston retained everyone from their core last year and had resounding success despite less lineup continuity on a night-by-night basis. They were very clearly the second-best team in the East and a top-3 team in the NBA all season, finishing with the league’s second-best offense and NET Rating.

The Celtics also continued to outpace the field in made 3-pointers–making 154 more than any other team–with four players making at least 160 threes, including three with at least 250. No Celtics player had more than 230 last year.

I’m very curious to see how it’s challenged after a relatively smooth postseason run last year, when it went 16-3. They are a very good team, but will any team in the East (or league) have enough to dethrone them? We will see!

Key Questions:

1. Can Orlando keep up with Boston?

As long as we’re talking about the current state of the Orlando Magic, I’m going to bring up the offense. It was bad this year. Two of their three meetings against Boston were at the bottom-25 percentile of offensive outputs. The other placed in the 43rd percentile, but that was also a game with its regular starters against Boston missing six of its top-7 scorers. Boston’s a top-5 defense. Orlando will have to play way above its head offensively to stand a chance. We’ve seen crazier things, but that’s not likely.

2. How will Boston respond to Orlando’s physicality?

This current Celtics core of Tatum and Brown has been through so many grueling series–back to when they were rookies in 2016 and 2017. However, that doesn’t mean this one against the Magic will be a walk in the park. As much disdain I have for their process (and results) offensively, the Magic will punch you in the mouth if you’re not careful. How does Boston’s core respond to this first test?

Prediction: Celtics in 5

Who do you think wins this series? Let us know in the comments!

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