Celtics Take Game 1 Over Magic Despite Banchero's, Wagner's Efforts

BOSTON – Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner gave a mighty effort, but the Boston Celtics staved off the threat of the Orlando Magic's stars in Game 1 of their best-of-seven playoff series.

With a 103-86 win on Easter Sunday, the No. 2-seed Celtics handled the No. 7-seed Magic, grabbing a 1-0 lead in the process.

The Magic, after trailing by 12 early in the first half, led by a point at halftime as it looked poised to steal homecourt advantage in their first-round matchup with the defending champions.

Boston quickly re-established itself in the second half, though.

Derrick White led Boston in victory with a 30-point afternoon on 10-of-18 shooting. The Celtics turned Orlando over 15 times, converting their extra possessions into 24 points, and outscored the Magic 26-4 on fastbreak points.

Paolo Banchero poured in 36 points to lead Orlando – his fourth career playoff game of 30-plus points in eight tries.

Here's what else stood out in the result:

Magic can't find third scoring option

The Magic's leading stars combined for 59 points to keep Orlando afloat. But their inability to find a third scorer proved costly in the result.

No one besides Banchero or Wagner (23 points) finished in double figures for Orlando in the result. While they shot 24-for-51 from the field, their teammates finished a combined 10-of-30 from the field and tallied 27 total points.

How do the Magic change that?

"I think it's just the ability to play faster," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said postgame. "When we step into the game, just being able to know that when we get the stops, we've got to get out and run and make sure we're putting pressure on the rim early.

"I think it really is just about us pushing the pace, attacking downhill, and trusting that when our defense does get the stop, we've got to convert on the other end."

Orlando only created three fastbreak opportunities to Boston's 13, and only turned 16 second-chance opportunities into 11 points.

As a collective, the Magic shot 42.0 percent from the field and only attempted 11 free throws, their third-lowest mark this season.

"There's nerves, lit crowd, really loud," Banchero said. "Not a total surprise that we struggled a little bit on offense, honestly."

Meanwhile, Boston flexed its balanced scoring attack. Jaylen Brown (17 points, 6-of-14 shooting) and Jayson Tatum (16 points, 8-of-22 shooting) had off nights by their standards in the scoring column, but the Celtics, like usual, relied on lethal outside shooting as others picked up their slack.

Boston, the most frequent deep-shooting team in NBA history, drilled 16 treys in the result. Seven of which came from White, four from reserve sharpshooter Payton Pritchard (19 points) and three from Jrue Holiday (nine points).

"That's something that, as a team, we harped on coming in, that they do have two main guys, but it's really the other guys that kill you," Banchero said. "We just have to do a better job of getting those guys off the line, because they really kill you from three. Pritchard four threes, Derrick White seven threes, Jrue Holiday three threes; that's the game right there.

"You do a good job on the main guys, but some of the role guys on the wings, they kill you, so we have to do a better job of taking them away."

Orlando, even with their opposition at seven made triples at halftime, finished with 10 for the evening.

Celtics dominate third quarter

After taking a one-point lead into the halftime break, a poor third quarter – an all-too-familiar occurence throughout the Magic's regular season – saw Boston seize control of the contest.

The Magic shot just 6-of-20 from the field in the frame, and Boston outscored Orlando 30-18. The Celtics' first bucket out would be the final of four lead changes in the contest.

"I think we got a little stagnant on offense, and that's when they're a really good defensive team," Wagner said postgame. "I think they got a couple easy threes in transition. They want to shoot a lot of threes, and that's when they go on big runs."

Boston made its first four triples out of the half, scoring 28 of the first 38 third-quarter points.

Up Next

Game 2 of the series is set for Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.

To see the full series schedule, click here.

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