Category: Basketball

The bottom came in Minnesota on the second night of back-to-back games in early December, LeBron James showing signs that the mileage he’d compiled over 22 seasons of NBA basketball was starting to erode away his invincibility.

The signs had been building before that wintry Monday night. The game before, he bullied mismatches in the fourth quarter of a one-point win against the Utah Jazz that was much harder than it should’ve ever been. He was bad against the Thunder, middling against the Spurs and shook against the Suns and Nuggets.

Over an eight-game stretch from Nov. 19 through that night in Minnesota, the Lakers were 104 points worse than their opponents when James was on the court.

The end, for the first time, seemed like it was sprinting toward James instead of the other way around. That night in Minnesota, James had to scratch for every one of his 10 points, each miss dragging the shoulders that were always built to carry so much toward the ground.

As a Laker, he might’ve never looked worse.

“It's everything,” he said of what was going wrong. “It's the rhythm. I just feel off rhythm.”

That night in Minnesota felt like it happened forever ago as James spoke after the Lakers’ final practice before Game 1 of the playoffs — a series fittingly that will take the team back to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4. Talking with a mixture of focus and intensity in his face, James looked at the practice court and was asked if the necessary ingredients to win him a fifth NBA championship were in the room.

“Yeah,” he said flatly. “Of course.”

Whether or not that belief will be rewarded in June is as much in the future as that miserable Minnesota night is in the past, but James’ recommitment to the team, to the Lakers’ new identity and to himself and his teammates has undoubtedly propelled the team to the place where it credibly believes it can be the last one standing.

James, coach JJ Redick said, got back on track in losses to Miami and Atlanta before using the Lakers’ weeklong break during the in-season tournament to deal with an ailing foot and to recalibrate his mindset.

He became one of the team’s most impactful defenders. He consistently did all the little things that lead to winning, Over the next 35 games, the Lakers won 25 times. During that stretch, James said part of his consistent effort on the defensive end was about showing his son, Bronny, what it took to win in the league.

“Your examples show better sometimes than the words,” he said on Feb. 20 after leading the Lakers to a win on the second night of back-to-back games in Portland. “So, I hope I’m in position now to do both — to be able to give him words of advice and also show him by example.”

Yet it’s been more than that, the sense that James had given himself fully to whatever the Lakers needed. When it meant ceding shots to Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, he did that. When it meant controlling the glass with Davis out injured, he did that. And when it required moving well out of the way to make room for Luka Doncic after the Lakers stunned everyone, James included, by acquiring him, he did that.

Read more:NBA insiders break down the Lakers-Timberwolves playoff series

He finished the season averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists. According to basketballreference.com, it’s the 29th time since 1960 a player has averaged at least 24 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in a season. No one older than 31 other than James has ever done it, and he’s done it six times since turning that age.

And somehow, in his 22nd season, he still found ways to get better, shooting the best free-throw percentage (78.2%) of his career.

As the Lakers kept winning, as they kept showing the best teams in the West that they were capable of beating them, the resolve that the Lakers can win only got stronger.

“The belief’s there,” Redick said of James on Friday. “… I think that LeBron’s confidence, belief in himself, in his teammates, when that’s there, it empowers the group even more. So, if the rest of the guys believe it, and LeBron believes it, that really strengthens that resolve and feeling.”

James doubled-down on his role in the Lakers’ offense on Friday, simplifying any lingering questions about hierarchy now that the playoffs are here.

“Give Luka the ball,” he said. “And if we stay ready, we never gotta get ready.”

James made it clear Friday that his belief means nothing when it comes to the Lakers’ goals of winning 16 more times this season, goals that start by beating Minnesota to four wins.

“Obviously you wanna be healthy going into a postseason run," he said. "That's most important. And then you want to be able to have been playing at a high level for the majority of the season being in like, must-win games going down the stretch, playoff-type intensity games. And we had that.

"But at the end of the day, I can talk as much as you guys want me to talk, but the game is won in between the four lines. I don't give a damn how much you know about a team, how much they know about you. All the talking, it's not about that. It's about once you get on the floor, the game is won in between the four lines.”

On Saturday, James will walk between them with his best chance to stay there until the NBA Finals since he won a ring in 2020 with the Lakers. And for a person who has come a long way in his career and who managed to come a long way this season, that’s special.

“It's a blessing. I don't take it for granted to be able to play in the postseason at my age and how many years I've played in this game,” James said. “To be one of 16 teams to go in with this team and know what we're capable of, all you can do is ask for a chance to be able to compete at the highest level and be able to compete for the ultimate thing. And that's the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

“You just don't take it for granted.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

For the Clippers’ vaunted defense, the ultimate test undoubtedly will be dealing with Denver’s incomparable center Nikola Jokic during what figures to be a competitive seven-game playoff series.

Jokic is a basketball savant, exceptional in every facet of the game, a player for whom the Clippers will gameplan like never before.

He’s a three-time NBA most valuable player and is a strong candidate again for the award following an even more impressive campaign than the others.

Jokic became just the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season, joining Nuggets teammate Russell Westbrook and Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson. Jokic posted numbers of 29.6 points (third best in the league), 12.7 rebounds (third) and 10.2 assists (second).

His counterpart at center is Ivica Zubac, who will get the first crack at Jokic for the Clippers starting with Game 1 on Saturday afternoon.

At 7-foot and 240 pounds, Zubac has the size and strength to not get overpowered by the 6-11 and 284-pound Jokic.

Read more:NBA scouts break down the Clippers-Nuggets playoff series

But when asked to share his thoughts on having to defend Jokic, Zubac paused, smiled and then chuckled before he answered.

“Ugh, it’s going to be tough,” Zubac said, chuckling again. “He’s incredible. He’s the best player in the league, for sure, and it’s going to be tough. He’s got so much stuff offensively. You got to mix in a lot of different coverages. It’s going to be tough for sure, but I think we have our advantages and I’m sure our coaching staff is going to prepare us to be locked in in Game 1.”

The Clippers allowed just 108.2 points per game, the fourth-best defense in the league, and had the third-best defensive rating at 109.4 per 100 possessions. They held teams to 46.1 percent shooting (eighth), 35 percent three-point shooting (fifth) and picked up 8.8 steals (eighth) per game.

The plan, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said, is to throw a variety of defenses at Jokic.

Expect the Clippers to double team him from different areas on the court, to blitz him and to throw different bodies at him.

“You can’t play the game perfect,” Kawhi Leonard said. “You can’t guard anyone perfect, so whatever way you guard him, he’s going to try to execute and if that’s him scoring high or him [getting] high assists, that’s just how the game turned out. But we’re just focused on trying to win the basketball game. Obviously, he’s a big part of it and he causes a lot of attention.”

For as much attention that is rightfully being paid to Jokic, the Clippers as a whole have been playing some of the best basketball in the league to end the season.

They entered the postseason tied with the Milwaukee Bucks with the longest winning streak at eight.

The Clippers have won 18 of their last 21 games, winning their last two high-pressure games to secure the fifth seed.

That left an impression on Jokic.

“They are a great team,” Jokic said after Denver’s practice Friday. “They are playing really well lately. They have dangerous players and they have players there that are probably the best in their roles coming off the bench and we know it’s going to be really a big task for us. But I think we are ready for it.”

The Clippers and Nuggets split the season-series at 2-2, but Leonard didn’t play in any of them.

Six of the Clippers average double figures, three over 20 points per game in James Harden (22.8), Norman Powell (21.8) and Leonard (21.5).

“I think we know who we are,” Harden said. “We have to be great defensively every single night. Offensively, it can be anyone of us that can get going. It could be Zu getting post ups, Kawhi and Norm or myself or Boggie [Bogdan Bogdanovic]. For us, I think the game is going to dictate who has got it going. Defensively, that’s the most important thing, is making sure we lock in on that side of the basketball.”

Bogdanovic played with Jokic for the Serbian national team during the Olympics in Paris. The two have been teammates and friends for years, both knowing each other’s game, strengths and weaknesses, and now they will face off in a playoff series.

In that regard, the Clippers did pick Bogdanovic’s brain on ways to prepare for Jokic since the two of them have known “each other for a while.”

“I honestly think he attacks every single game the same way,” Bogdanovic said. “For him, there is no difference of opponent, the season or anything. For sure there is that extra motivation of how the competition is coming to the end. But I think his biggest quality is preparing the same way for every single game.”

Etc.

Clippers all-purpose forward Nicolas Batum, who missed the final two regular-season games with because of a right groin injury, said he was “good, good after a few practices,” and would be ready to play in Game 1.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

On the eve of the NBA playoffs, the Lakers showed executive Rob Pelinka that they think he’s the right person to help lead their future, rewarding him with a contract extension and the title of president of basketball operations.

Pelinka, previously the vice president of basketball operations, retains the title of general manager. He last agreed to a four-year extension in 2022.

“For eight seasons, I have relied on Rob’s vision and leadership to do what’s best for the Lakers organization,” Jeanie Buss said in a statement. “I value his partnership and professionalism and believe in his ability to deliver championship-caliber basketball for Los Angeles and the Lakers fans everywhere.”

Pelinka re-established himself as the trusted and clear leader of the Lakers’ basketball operations department this season, first by hiring JJ Redick last summer. Then, Pelinka struck a pair of trades, first for Dorian Finney-Smith and second for Luka Doncic, that it made clear that his position within the organization was more than safe.

Friday’s finalized extension was viewed as mostly a formality in NBA circles following the Doncic trade. Terms of the extension weren’t announced.

Read more:Luka Doncic had an epic playoff moment last year. Here's why it could happen again

Pelinka, Kobe Bryant’s longtime agent, built a championship roster around the trade for Anthony Davis in 2020 only to receive criticism for how it was dismantled. Within two years, the team had added Russell Westbrook, fired Frank Vogel and hired Darvin Ham. After trading Westbrook, Ham and the Lakers reached the Western Conference finals.

But following a second straight playoff elimination by Denver, Pelinka again fired the coach and hired Redick. The front office drafted Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, signed Jordan Goodwin to a two-way contract and made the Finney-Smith and Doncic deals to put the Lakers in position to host Game 1 of a first-round series Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Banchero is Magic's only hope of giving Celtics a first-round scare originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Orlando Magic are heading into their first-round NBA playoff series against the Boston Celtics as heavy underdogs, and if they’re going to have any chance at pulling off a historic upset, Paolo Banchero needs to deliver an all-time performance.

Banchero, who was selected by the Magic with the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, is a rising star. He averaged 25.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game this season.

The 22-year-old forward has tremendous size, length and athleticism at 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds.

Banchero is a legit centerpiece for Orlando. They’ve had a few in the franchise’s 36-year history, including Penny Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal and most recently Dwight Howard. Banchero is talented enough to join that group, but winning is the only way to do it.

One way for the Magic to have a chance at making this series versus the Celtics a long one is to slow the game down. Part of that is getting to the free throw line, and Banchero’s 8.4 attempts in the regular season ranked fourth-most in the league. And since the All-Star break he’s been averaging 9.2 free throw attempts per game. Banchero is great at using his quickness and strength to get to the rim, draw contact and finish.

The Magic are a great defensive team. They ranked No. 2 in defensive rating and play very physical on that end of the floor. But defense alone won’t give them a chance to win this series. They have to score at a much higher rate than they did in the regular season. Boston scored the eighth-most points at 116.3 per game. Orlando ranked 28th with 105.4 points per game.

If the Magic are going to close that 10-point gap, Banchero has to take his game to another level. And it’s possible he could get there. Just look at the Magic’s first-round series against the Cavaliers last season.

It was Banchero’s first time in the playoffs, and he didn’t look rattled at all. He averaged 27 points, 8.6 rebounds and four assists per game in the series. His best performance came in Game 7 at Cleveland, where he scored 38 points with 16 rebounds and three steals. Unfortunately for the Magic, their other four starters shot a combined 9-for-42 and they lost 106-94.

Banchero won’t just be asked to lead the offense for the Magic. He needs to be a stopper on defense, too.

The one head-to-head matchup where the Celtics played the Magic at full strength this season came on Jan. 17 at TD Garden. The C’s won by 27, but Banchero excelled defensively. He spent most of his time guarding Jayson Tatum and limited the Celtics superstar to four points on 1-for-4 shooting in that matchup. Tatum shot 11-for-17 against other Magic players in that game. Overall, Celtics players shot 1-for-9 that night when Banchero was the primary defender.

It’s probably a little too early for the Magic to make a statement in the playoffs. This is a really young team, and the Celtics have a distinct advantage in playoff experience, talent, depth and coaching. This should be a short series.

But the Magic play hard. They don’t quit. Banchero is going to be a superstar in the very near future. He has the potential to make this a five- or six-game series if he dominates at both ends of the floor.

Why Warriors' aren't worried about Rockets' physical Steph tactics originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – All the talk after the Warriors’ most recent game against the Houston Rockets is the same noise following them going into the first round of the NBA playoffs. 

The Rockets’ bully-ball defense held Steph Curry to three points on 10 shots in a 106-96 Golden State loss two weeks to the date of Game 1 in Houston. Curry made just one shot on the night at his home court, hitting a deep three on the run in the final seconds of the first half. He took eight shots behind the 3-point line, and that was the only one the shooting cyborg connected on. 

Houston followed the lead of its head coach Ime Udoka, someone who wants to assert himself as an alpha anywhere he goes. The Rockets threw their physicality in the face of Curry. They held, grabbed, pushed and used every tactic to slow him down. 

It was a dare to the referees to blow their whistles with Curry running through their terrain. And it worked. 

Curry and Udoka exchanged words walking to their respective tunnels at halftime. Udoka even called Curry out for crying to refs about foul calls after the game. Jimmy Butler intentionally stood up for his teammate in the Warriors’ locker room, saying he has never seen someone get fouled more, and that “it really angers me that he’s on my team and he gets hacked like that.” 

“There’s a reason teams have to be physical against Steph,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday after practice before the team’s flight to Houston. “I mean, he’s the greatest shooter and mover of all time in this game. We would try to guard him the exact same way.” 

Every team is going to put their best athletes on Curry. The game plan is to wear him down physically. For the Rockets, that means heavy doses of Amen Thompson (6-foot-7, 209 pounds), Dillon Brooks (6-foot-6, 225 pounds) and Fred VanVleet, who is smaller at 6-foot and 197 pounds, but has tons of experience defending Curry under the bright lights. Udoka’s strategy to slow down a great scorer isn’t new. 

He took it right out of the books of coaching greats like Chuck Daley and Pat Riley. But Kerr made it a point to send the same message he’s telling his team. 

“By the way, we’re a very physical team too,” Kerr said. “We’ve been very good in the playoffs by playing a physical game. I welcome all of that. The series will unfold, and teams will complain about officiating. We will, they will – it’s all a part of it.”

Rookie center Quinten Post followed his coach’s lead in responding to a question about the Rockets’ physicality. 

“I think we’re a pretty physical team ourselves,” Post said. “Maybe we’ve been a little undersized throughout this year, but we have the experience and I think we play hard. I don’t think it’s anything we haven’t seen before.” 

While the Warriors already have faced the Rockets five times this season, Curry only played in three of them. Curry averaged 16.3 points per game against the Rockets, which is more than eight points below his season average of 24.5. The only team he played multiple times and averaged fewer points against was the Eastern Conference’s No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. Curry averaged only 11.3 points in two games against the Cavs. 

His 36.4 field goal percentage (16 of 44) and 30.0 3-point percentage (9 of 30) against the Rockets’ defense would erase confidence in most cases. Curry isn’t most cases. 

He’s a four-time champion. A NBA Finals MVP. The greatest shooter of all time, as well as one of the game’s most brilliant minds. 

Everything about a game can be flipped on its head the second Steph starts to get going.

“He’s been through this millions of times,” Brandin Podziemski said. “He’s always going to make the adjustment that’s right for us to win.”

The adjustment for the Warriors still revolves around their principles of spacing, cutting and getting out in transition. The Rockets are an extremely tough wall to take down after scoring and being able to set up their defense and apply pressure. The solution might be more pick-and-roll. The Warriors have been more of an isolation team since Butler’s arrival. 

Anything to give Curry a sliver of space to work with. 

Whatever the answer is for the Warriors, it’s never a one-man job for the opposition. Thompson, a former Curry Camp attendee, is being anointed as the next “Steph Stopper.” History isn’t on his side. 

Matthew Dellavedova is still asking for oxygen somewhere in Australia. Davion Mitchell. Pat Bev. Marcus Smart. Jrue Holiday. Even rookie Jaylen Wells earlier this season. 

There were spurts of success for them. Maybe even a game or two. Those little wins typically have a quick expiration date. 

“There’s a fluidity and emotion and a beauty to Steph’s game that comes from understanding the movement and the spacing on the court – coordinating that space with his teammates,” Kerr said. “If he does that well in concert with his teammates, he’s going to get some openings. 

“And with Steph, all it takes is one to get him going.” 

The veteran-led Warriors aren’t about to puff their chests and make guarantees for the series. Post, before his first taste of the playoffs, isn’t afraid to make one on behalf of Curry. 

“What I do know is that they’re not going to be able to hold Steph to three points again,” he said. “I know that for a fact. It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before, and he’ll be up for the challenge.”

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Post vows Steph won't be limited to three points vs. Rockets again originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Warriors superstar Steph Curry had one of his worst games of the 2024-25 NBA season against the Houston Rockets, Golden State’s opponent in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. 

The four-time NBA champion mustered just three points on 1-for-10 shooting in the Warriors’ 106-96 loss to the Rockets at Chase Center on April 6.

The outing obviously was an anomaly, and Curry’s teammate and rookie Golden State center Quinten Post vowed that the sharpshooter won’t have that rough of a performance against Houston again when talking to reporters on Friday.

“I’ve played with Steph now throughout the season and I think I’ve never seen a guy being guarded like that by everybody,” Post said. “But what I do think they have is the size and athleticism to back up that aggressive play. But what I do know is that they’re not going to hold Steph to three points again. I know that for a fact. It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before and he’ll be up for the challenge.”

Post is right.

Anyone who has followed Curry’s renowned 16-year Warriors career knows “for a fact” that the 11-time NBA All-Star is more likely to score 60 points than three points on any given night, and the Rockets shouldn’t expect Curry to struggle that badly ever again.

And on the contrary, Houston should be concerned about Curry upping his level of play.

Since their first meeting in 2015, Curry has averaged 25.2 points, 5.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds over 20 playoff games against the Rockets and has won all four series with a 13-7 record. Houston’s famed James Harden era ended ringless largely because of Curry and the Warriors’ dominant reign over them.

Sure, the Rockets held Curry to three points a few weeks ago. But as Post said, that won’t happen again, as all parties know what the greatest shooter of all time is capable of when the lights are brightest.

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Stephen A warns Draymond to ‘watch himself' vs. Brooks, Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Stephen A. Smith believes Draymond Green needs to be careful as he and the Warriors face forward Dillon Brooks and the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

The ESPN analyst explained what makes Green such a great player and how Brooks’ contentious comments play into the looming matchup.  

“The greatest element of Draymond Green is his mind,” Smith told Danny Green and Molly Qerim on Friday on ESPN’s “First Take.” “And Dillion Brooks basically challenged him when he said what he said. ‘I’m not going to get ejected, I’m going to leave that to someone else,’ we know who he is talking about. So, Draymond Green hears that kind of statement, and his mentality in all likelihood is going to be, ‘We’re going to play these mind games…and I’m going to one-up you mentally.’ ”

"Draymond [Green] needs to watch himself." 😯 @stephenasmith and @DGreen_14 on Draymond Green vs. Dillon Brooks in Warriors-Rockets 👀 pic.twitter.com/GAiERIC6ei

— First Take (@FirstTake) April 18, 2025

Brooks and Green are not exactly friendly, having had plenty of fiery interactions on the court when the former was a member of the Memphis Grizzlies. Now a key contributor to an up-and-coming Rockets team focused on avenging years of playoff futility against the Warriors, Brooks is expected to be a thorn in the side of Golden State.

Smith understands the heated nature of the Rockets-Warriors rivalry and Green’s penchant for playing hard and drawing fouls and ejections, which has cost Golden State in the past.

“It’s worth repeating this: Draymond needs to watch himself,” Smith said. “There is a title that Draymond himself will admit he cost Golden State years ago because he got himself suspended [for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals].”

The upstart Rockets have been one of the biggest surprises this season, surging up the standings to capture the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. The Warriors have been rejuvenated since trading for Jimmy Butler, but a few late-season missteps cost them a shot at a top-six seed. After surviving a slugfest in the NBA play-in tournament against Memphis, Golden State arrives with a full head of steam as the No. 7 seed.

The Warriors must bring their best against a dynamic and physical Rockets team, particularly a calm, focused Green.

Expect plenty of mind games and colorful language from the 35-year-old as he and Golden State look to ground Brooks and the Rockets for good.

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Post clarifies TJD giving up Warriors bench seat during play-in game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Warriors rookie center Quinten Post clarified the moment second-year center Trayce Jackson-Davis gave up his seat on the bench for him during Golden State’s 121-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA play-in tournament on Tuesday.

“Me and Trayce are obviously really close, honestly,” Post told reporters after practice Friday. “We play the center position together. But he’s been very supportive of me as I’ve been with him at the start of the year. It wasn’t [anything]. I think I was just gassed. I think I played the longest stint of basketball I’ve played here. I think I played 10 minutes straight, and I just asked Trayce if I could sit there. I also had to ask something to Draymond and he was sitting next to him, so I just asked if I could sit there.

“I didn’t mean for [Jackson-Davis] to get up and stand. I thought there was another seat available maybe but that wasn’t the case. I don’t think it was anything crazy but we’re a very united team, I feel like, and we kind of do those things for each other sometimes.”

The two 25-year-old Warriors centers clearly have each other’s backs.

Nonetheless, it was Golden State star forward Draymond Green who illuminated Jackson-Davis’ honorable gesture. Green told reporters about Jackson-Davis’ selfless act following the Warriors’ win over the Grizzlies.

“I want to mention something that I saw today that no one will give a s–t about,” Green prefaced. “Trayce Jackson-Davis did something on the bench today. He didn’t play in the game. There were no seats on the bench, Quinten Post said, ‘Trayce, can I get that seat?’ and Trayce just got up. And a part of me was baffled that he got up for the rookie. Because the rookie – if there’s no seat, you sit on the floor. [Jackson-Davis] just got up and gave him the seat. 

“And I walked over to [Jackson-Davis] and said that’s one of the more selfless things I’ve ever seen. Ninety-nine percent of the time, you’re going to be like, ‘You going to go sit on the floor, rook. Go find a seat somewhere else.’ But [Jackson-Davis] knew he wasn’t part of the rotation, and yet the rookie was. They’re playing the same position, and [Jackson-Davis] got up and went and stood in the tunnel because there were no seats.”

The seventh-seeded Warriors have tons of momentum in the West entering their first-round playoff series against the second-seeded Houston Rockets. 

And the chemistry, as demonstrated by Jackson-Davis, Green and Post, is exactly what Golden State’s locker room needs moving forward – especially with the franchise aiming for a fifth NBA championship in 11 seasons.

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Can Magic score enough to make playoff series vs. Celtics competitive? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Orlando Magic are a great defensive team. They finished the NBA regular season ranked No. 2 in defensive rating. This team has size, length and athleticism all over the floor.

The real question entering the Magic’s first-round playoff series against the Celtics is whether they can score enough points to keep up with Boston’s potent attack. The C’s set league records for the most 3-point shots made and attempted in a single season, and they had the No. 2 offensive rating in the regular season.

The Magic have a couple good offensive players, most notably Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. But other guys have to step up. The good news for the Magic is they actually showed improvement offensively after the All-Star break.

🔊 Celtics Talk: Behind Enemy Lines: Which rival will push the Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoffs? | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

“They’ve struggled to shoot the ball,” Magic broadcaster Dante Marchitelli told Chris Forsberg on NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Talk Podcast. “They had an almost historically poor 3-point percentage this year, and that’s a problem in today’s NBA, and especially against the Celtics, which is what they do at 17.8 makes per game. You’re not going to have a chance to stay in this game if you’re making five to eight 3-pointers, right?

“They’ve got to knock down shots. So that’s been a big thing. But they’ve moved from 30th in offensive rating to 20th since the All-Star break. It doesn’t seem like much, but that was a big jump where they have started to make shots.

“I think they’ve kind of got their rotation going down. Cory Joseph might be a household name for real avid basketball fans, but not casual fans. He has steadied the ship. He kind of gets the ball to Paolo and Franz and lets them do their things. They’re 11-5 with Joseph as a starter. So that’s kind of been steadying the ship for them.

“Cole Anthony is a wild card. If he’s got it going, you just stay out of the way. You get him the basketball. The Celtics have several guys like that. Cole Anthony is one of those guys that if he’s got it going, you just continue to ride him. And then maybe Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can get hot. He’s won two championships.

“And then Paolo and Franz. They’re built for this. They love this moment and the spotlight. … This series will do one of two things. It’ll either wake up Boston real early in the first round because Orlando’s defense will be so tough or it could surprise them. I think it’s going to be a much more competitive series than people think.”

The Magic beat the Celtics in two of their three matchups during the regular season, although Jayson Tatum didn’t play in both of those Boston losses.

In the one game that both Tatum and Jaylen Brown did play versus the Magic, the Celtics won by 27 points on Jan. 17. at TD Garden.

Nevertheless, the Magic are coming to Boston with plenty of confidence. It’ll be interesting to see just how long it lasts.

“They’re not just happy to be there in Boston,” Marchitelli said. “They’re not along for the ride. They’re going into Boston feeling they can win. If you’re going to go play the games, you might as well win them. They won two out of three (vs. Boston in the regular season). They’ve got one of the best winning percentages against Boston since 2022.

“But they know it’s monumental. They know it’s going to be a monumental task to do it. And literally everything has to break their way to pull off an upset or to stay competitive in this series. But that’s how they view it. They don’t know what they don’t know yet, which I think is huge. They’re going to go in there feeling confident because all the things that are Orlando’s strengths — they kind of were able to utilize that in two victories and limit Boston’s 3-point attempts, field goal attempts per game, slow things down for them.

“It was hard for Boston to score. They averaged right around 100 points per game against Orlando this year, the fewest in the NBA. So Orlando’s strengths will hopefully help them in this series.”

NBC Sports Boston has complete coverage of Game 1 starting at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday with Celtics Pregame Live.

Also in this episode:

• Ian Begley on state of the Knicks and possible matchup with C’s
• Kayla Burton and Chris discuss upcoming postseason scenarios for C’s