Wild Stat Shows Clear Advantage For Celtics vs Magic Entering Playoffs

This stat shows that the Celtics have a clear advantage over Orlando in one key spot.

Jan 17, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) looks to pass the ball over Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics have been one of the best teams in the NBA for each of the last two years. A big reason for that has been the philosophy shift once Joe Mazzulla took over the team.

Once he became the head coach, he instructed the team to take more 3-point shots. In fac,t he had them up their volum from beyond the arc significantly.

No team in the NBA launches more threes than the Celtics. During the regular season, they heaved 48.2 threes per game, which was six more than any other team in the league.

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Boston not only takes a lot of threes, but they make a lot of them too. They hit 36.8 percent fo their threes. The team they are facing in the first round of the playoffs is on the opposite end of that spectrum.

The Orlando Magic were by far the worst 3-point shooting team in the league, hitting just 31.8 percent from deep.

Orlando’s 31.8% three-point percentage ranked dead last in the NBA.

The NBA average this season was 36.0%, a mark only two of their active players reached: Caleb Houstan (40.0%) and Cory Joseph (36.4%). They ranked 11th and 14th on the team in minutes played.

— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) April 16, 2025

If the Magic can't hit their threes, the Celtics are likely going to run right through them in this series. The Magic simply don't have enough offense to keep up with them otherwise.

Orlando does have one of the best defenses in the league. They allowed the Hawks to just hit four 3-point shots in the Play-In game, which helped the Magic score a blowout win.

That's the kind of effort that the Magic are going to have to have if they want to have any hope of upsetting Boston in this series.

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Boston is going to hit their threes. Orlando has to be able to counter by hitting threes of their own, meaning that Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are going to have to be better from deep than they have been in recent weeks.

Jayson Tatum should be able to lead the Celtics to a win in this series if he shoots it well from deep. They're hoping that they can finish off Orlando quickly so that Jaylen Brown can get some rest for his injured knee.

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For more news and notes on the Boston Celtics, visit Boston Celtics on SI.