Cutting off Jaylen Brown drives among 3 Keys to how Magic beat Celtics

One moment the Boston Celtics are perfecting five-out basketball, the next their frontcourt is... *points in general direction*

The Celtics versatile defense is no more, at least for this season.

Can the reeling Magic take advantage of this size mismatch that should heavily fall in their favor?

Here are 3 keys to a #MagicWin at home against the Celtics:

1. Attack the paint like no tomorrow

Paolo dunk vs Hawks — Nov 4, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) dunks against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Boston's roster reconstruction has left the paint wide open.

Not only are the Celtics missing Jayson Tatum for most (if not all) of the season, the frontcourt is completely overhauled since the season prior.

With Orlando's strengths catered to the paint, between driving perimeter stars to bigs crashing the glass, dominating all things around the rim is the simplest key to victory – use your massive advantage in size against them.

Win the rebound battle – Boston shoots a lot of threes, creating long rebounds, so sending extra players to crash the glass won't be necessary, but boxing out your man from any spot on the floor is.

Protect the rim without leaving 3pt shooters open.

Attacking the paint should be the primary goal – Boston doesn't have the strength to slow down Banchero and Wagner from getting to the rim. Don't make it easy for the defense; attack, cut, roll, and drive as often as possible.

2. Sell out on contesting threes, keep up with Boston's 3pt Volume

Pritchard shoots — Nov 5, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) shoots the ball against Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington (7) in the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

This Celtics offense has a simple philosophy: live by the three, die by the three.

Boston shoots the most threes per game of any team, despite recording the 4th-worst 3P% while doing so.

The Celtics' 47 3PA per game is two more attempts than 2nd-place, three more attempts than 3rd, and seven more attempts than 9th.

For comparison, Orlando only launches 31 3PA per game, the 3rd-smallest volume, despite ranking 4 spots higher in 3pt efficiency than Boston.

The analysis? Orlando should simply attempt more three-pointers; the problem isn't the looks they are creating or the shooters suddenly forgetting how to shoot, the team simply is not shooting enough, especially from 3pt specialists Bane, Suggs, da Silva, Jones, Richardson.

Even the best 3pt shooting teams can't predict which night their shots will fall; what they control is how many shots they can get up, and how they go about creating those shots.

By getting up the same volume of threes as your opponent who lives and dies by the three, the team is giving themselves those same odds of 3pt volatility falling in their favor that night.

The gameplan? Defensively – Run Boston's perimeter shooters off the 3pt line, force them to attack Orlando's trees in the paint. Offensively – break out the Christmas tree stand a little early from downtown and light it up.

3. Cut off Jaylen Brown Drives

Is Jaylen Brown having his 'Scottie Pippen #1 Option Season While Michael Jordan Plays Baseball' moment?

With Tatum out of the equation, Brown is off to career-highs in scoring and efficiency (27.7 PPG on 63.3% TS%)

Orlando's primary individual challenge defensively tonight is slowing down Boston's best available player.

No matter what the offense turns into, defense remains the identity of this Magic team. Orlando will only go as far as its calling card takes them.

Ranked the 2nd-best defense two years in a row, Orlando must rekindle their turnover-forcing fire to be the great team they desire to be.

Brown runs 5 ISOs and P&Rs per game, near the tops in the league in volume; the Magic must slow him down with or without a screen coming.

Jaylen Brown has been significantly better on Pull-Up threes than C&S threes this year, so beware of running drop coverage or going under screens, because you'd be feeding Brown the looks he wants; instead, stay tight on Brown's hips with tight ball pressure, never giving him space when he has the ball in his hands, and force him to use his weak left hand to dribble often.

Thankfully, Orlando has the personnel (Suggs, Bane, Franz, da Silva, Black) to throw at Jaylen Brown on the perimeter to ideally contain his individual drives without fouling or doubling

If one defender forces Brown to lose a step, or better yet, not create the drive-and-kick advantage at all, then that defender has done their job.

Three Orlando players shine, but it's still a road loss ⁦@beyondtheRK⁩ https://t.co/6JZC58agEt
— OnSI Heat Magic Grizzlies NBA (@HeatMagicOnSI) November 5, 2025

Look out, world

This Orlando Magic lineup is running opponents off the floor with Net Ratings ranked

2nd among 16 lineups with 50+ MIN
3rd among 21 lineups with 40+ MIN
5th among 31 lineups with 30+ MIN

for @HeatMagicOnSI:https://t.co/fK8dtCaf5p
— Ryan Kaminski NBA (@beyondtheRK) November 3, 2025

Get ready to run

Magic and Wizards both rank Top-10 in Pace and Rebounding

Wizards specialize in defensive rebounding, Magic must crash offensive glass

Winning battle in the trenches among 3 Keys to How Magic take down Wizards, for @HeatMagicOnSI:https://t.co/ZypVcrWbF9
— Ryan Kaminski NBA (@beyondtheRK) November 1, 2025