BOSTON — Prior to an elimination game in their first-round series against the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla did not want to hear about whatever rest a win would afford his ailing team.
“Well, we’ve got to win Game 5,” he said.
Advertisement
That they did, dominating Orlando in the second half of a 120-89 victory and winning the series, 4-1.
Meanwhile, next round’s opponent remains undecided, as the Detroit Pistons defeated the New York Knicks, extending their series to a sixth game on Thursday. Tuesday’s outcomes afforded the Celtics at least a few days rest, and that is significant, considering the bruises they collected against the Magic.
“It’s good and bad,” Mazzulla, ever the contrarian, said afterward of the additional rest. “We’ll exit the arena for a couple days. That could be good. But I think as we start to get ready for the next series we have to reenter the arena and get ready. We’ll take the days we need, and we’ll get right back at it.”
They will need these days. This was as physical a series as there was across the NBA in a first round full of physicality. Jaylen Brown has been battling a right knee injury since mid-March. Jayson Tatum suffered a bone bruise on his shooting wrist from a hard foul in Game 1. And Jrue Holiday missed a third straight game with a right hamstring strain, which Mazzulla described as a “day-to-day” injury moving forward.
Advertisement
“It’s great,” Brown said of the extra rest. “When’s the earliest that we’ll play?” Nobody knew for certain. “Whatever it is, I’m going to take advantage of that and be ready to go through whoever’s next.”
Go through them. That is how this first-round series against the Magic felt. Despite a lopsided outcome, Orlando gave the Celtics all they could handle from a physicality standpoint. The Magic, whose defense was rated second in the NBA in the regular season, guarded the Celtics straight up, rarely helping, always switching, presenting a ton of 1-on-1 matchups. The game plan required Boston to go through them.
That Tatum did, collecting 35 points (on 10-of-16 shooting), 10 assists and eight rebounds in 34 minutes of work. He did the same in Game 4, totaling 37 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. The assists were hard to come by throughout the series. Because the Magic stayed home on Boston’s shooters, there were no easy outlets for open 3s. So, instead, Tatum and Brown did their work on an island and did it well.
This was another lesson learned for a team that has seen just about everything in six conference finals appearances over the past eight years, including two trips to the Finals and last year’s championship.
Advertisement
“You could say that,” said Brown. “I just look at every experience as an opportunity to learn, so that was a great learning experience for us, to go through a full playoff series, having to be physical, having to get in the trenches. Flagrant fouls, play through it. Physicality, play through it. And still find ways to win. That’s one of the challenges people would’ve said about us before the season: ‘Take away the 3-point shooting, play them physical,’ and we responded well to that this series. So that’s something that we’ll continue to build on, but that’s great to have in our back pocket. We can take that going forward into the playoffs.”
As Celtics big man Al Horford said, if we know anything about the Knicks and Pistons, “They’re both teams that play really hard.” If either team was hoping the Magic would provide a blueprint for winning against the Celtics, too bad, for they believe, if anything, this series was one that made them stronger.
“I thought that was the theme of the series — the physicality in the trenches,” said Mazzulla. “Every series, every game presents lessons, and you take those lessons if you’re fortunate enough to move on. There’s a lot that we can learn from this series, and we’ll be ready for whoever we play next.”
Tatum is more than ready. The challenges the Magic presented, he solved them, same as he plans to do to whoever comes next. The confidence to do that comes from the experience of winning last season.
Advertisement
“This season was the most relaxed and carefree that I’ve been in my career, understanding that we won last year, we accomplished the ultimate goal and we kind of got that monkey off our back,” said Tatum. “Obviously the goal is still the same this year, to win and compete for a championship. I’ve just enjoyed this season of playing carefree basketball and not having that hang over my head. It’s been fun to do.
“It allows me to focus on the task ahead. I’m not worried about trying to prove anybody wrong or anything like that. It’s understanding that I know what I’m capable of. I know what we are when we play a certain way, and we’ve shown that, so it’s all about getting to that level.”
It is true: This series was not the best of the Celtics. They know who they are, and there is another level for them to reach. Maybe the Knicks or Pistons will bring it out of them in the next round. They will presumably need it against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals. That might be getting ahead of ourselves, but these are the defending champions, and they expect it of themselves.
Advertisement
“I don’t take none of it for granted,” said Brown, who with Tuesday’s win tied Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn’s 17 career playoff series victories. “This is my ninth season and eighth playoff run, so I don’t take any of it for granted. To be able to be in the midst of some of the most winningest players in this franchise, with a lot of upside still in front of me, I’m very grateful. I’m excited to move onto the next round. I’m excited to keep adding to that legacy. Here in Boston it’s about winning. It’s not about getting out of the first round. So I’m looking forward to advancing. It’s the playoffs. This is what it’s all about.”
But first some well-earned rest.
