Back
The Celtics have won four straight and start their first full road trip Sunday afternoon in Orlando (Their one road game so far was the season-opener in Detroit). The Magic will be without five players, including All-Star forward Paolo Banchero.
Records: Celtics 4-1 (4-0 home, 0-1 road). Magic 2-3 (0-2 home, 2-1 road)
Tip-off: 3:30 p.m. ET, Kia Center
TV: NBC Sports Boston. No national broadcast.
Curtis Blair (#74) Gediminas Petraitis (#50) Che Flores (#91)
Here's your full-season Celtics guide, with the full roster, schedule, salaries, and more.
This is the first of four meetings between these teams.
Turnovers: Orlando is one of the highest turnover teams in the league, while Boston ranks fifth in forcing them. As we have seen with recent games against the Bulls, live-ball turnovers against the Celtics quickly turn into points and a big lead.
Shot diet: The Magic allow the fifth-fewest three-point attempts in the league, but they are 22nd in opponent three-point percentage, so the shots teams are getting against Orlando tend to be good ones. They are also 21st in opponent attempts in the restricted area, and in the middle of the pack in opponent percentage there. So there will be chances to drive and finish first, then the Celtics can explore the kick-outs.
Rotations: With a very difficult back-to-back in Houston tomorrow, I’m very curious to see how Joe Mazzulla handles his rotations. Robinson is already on the injury report, so there's a good chance he sits this one out. But how does Mazzulla lean on Boston’s depth? Does he unleash everyone and try to keep overall minutes down, or does he hold a few guys back today and give them bigger minutes tomorrow?
The Magic are just too sloppy without Suggs handling the ball and their defense has taken too big of a hit to do much against the Celtics. I can see a typical back-and-forth start and then a turnover-fueled run that breaks the game open. I think Boston ends up with a comfortable 117-104 win.
Make sure you come back for postgame coverage here on Celtics On SI, and on the Locked On Celtics podcast.