April 23, 2025 • 21 mins
Jaylen Brown was unconscious during Game 2 and piled up a monster 36-point double-double to lead the Boston Celtics past the Orlando Magic despite Boston playing without superstar wing Jayson Tatum. Kristaps Porzingis also added in a 20-point double-double, and the C’s delivered clutch play across the board. We’re sounding off on the incredible atmosphere at TD Garden, and taking comments from the fans on Jrue Holiday’s dunk, the determination Boston is showing, and a balanced effort across the board.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Down off with me, folks on the Boston Celtics taking
a two to zero series lead over the Orlando Magic
in the NBA Playoffs, despite the fact that they were
missing Jason Tatum for the first time ever in a
playoff game since he came into the NBA in twenty seventeen.
That is what happened Wednesday night, and now the Celtics
(00:27):
are feeling pretty good about themselves heading down to Orlando.
Welcome into the SoundOff postgame podcast. I appreciate you giving
us a watch or a listen. Please make sure to
subscribe on whatever channel you are on and make sure
to tune in and give us a listen or a
watch after every single Celtics game the rest of the season.
(00:48):
This happens after every game, So throw me your comments
after the final buzzer. Click subscribe, come back and join us.
We want you to be a part of the show
and we want to talk about everything that happens for
the Boston Celtics as the rest of the postseason unfolds.
Now listen, We've got a lot to cover in this podcast,
and I want to give you an idea first off
and foremost about what we're going to be talking about
(01:10):
from our fans tonight who submitted comments on x We've
got a few comments, one of which is on the
Drew Holliday dunk game. Can't wait to touch on that later,
the determination of the Celtics and how they are playing
right now, And then last but now least, we've got
a comment on players across the board stepping up tonight
(01:31):
while Jason Tatum was out. But first, let's go through
a little recap of this game. What I saw, what
I felt while I was in the arena. Let's dive
into it right now. As we've touched on, Jason Tatum
did miss the first postseason game of his NBA career.
It's really incredible when you think about it. I was
(01:51):
sitting next to Taylor Snow of Celtics dot Com. We
were talking about it right when.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
The game started.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I was like, this is the first game he's ever
missed in the NBA playoffs, isn't it? And he was like, no,
I think he missed. No, wait, this is the first
game that he's ever missed. Think about that. Think how
many games the Boston Celtics have played in the postseason
in Jason Tatum's career and this is the first time
ever that he's missed a game. Says a lot about
(02:16):
his durability and his ability to bring the goods every night.
Tonight he missed the game. He's got a sore wrist.
Sounds like he's going to be back sometime soon, possibly
for Game three. The Celtics didn't rule him out until
shortly before tip off tonight. He was listed as doubtful
when we woke up on Wednesday. But let's hope that
he is back for Friday's Game three down in Orlando.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The Celtics without him got off to a slow start offensively,
at least they were struggling. I think they shot about
twenty six percent from the field during the first quarter,
not very good. But they kept with it and they
figured it out. And by the way, the crowd was
behind them. If you were at this game, if your
(03:01):
friends or family were at this game, I have to
applaud them. This was an unbelievable atmosphere at TD Garden
for Game two of the first round against a team
that was the number seven seed in the Eastern Conference
that was in the play in tournament. The fans brought
(03:22):
the goods from start to finish in this game.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
They were on their feet, they.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Were loud, they were cheering there guys on chance all
night long. We had d White chance, we had KP chance,
MVP chants for Jaylen Brown.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
We had it all.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
This crowd was like Eastern Conference Finals, NBA Finals level
loud in intensity, and they were locked in from start
to finish. And I guarantee you if you went in
the locker room and asked the players, and they might
be being asked that right now as I record this about
the crowd tonight, I guarantee you they would tell you
that the crowd certainly helped them in some of those
(03:59):
key moment and key runs in this game too. So
thank you to all the fans out there for bringing
the goods tonight. If you were watching from home, I'm
sure you felt the energy. This was an unbelievable atmosphere.
And if we're getting this on game two in the
first round, good god. I don't even know what to
expect if and when the Celtics move on to the
(04:21):
next series and hopefully beyond that. So great job by
the crowd tonight. We did see a little bit of
chippiness in this game a couple different times on Tuesday
at practice, Al Horford spoke to the media, and you know,
he talked about the fact that he did not like
some of the fouls that were committed by Contavious Caldwell,
Pope of the Orlando Magic during Game one. One of
(04:44):
those fouls is what led to Jason Tatum staying down
on the ground for a couple of minutes and then
eventually missing Game two tonight due to that sore wrist.
Horford and KCP actually got tangled up a little bit
in transition. Horford it seemed like he took exception a
little bit, thought that CACP might have done it on purpose.
(05:06):
The play was reviewed and the referees determined that there
was nothing foul about it. There was nothing on purpose,
no intent, There was no wind up anything like that.
I think their feet just got tangled up as they
were transitioning back in the other way or other direction
on the court. I understand though, that Al Horford has
a little bit of extra context about what happened in
(05:27):
his from his perspective during the first game, so he
felt some type of way.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
He popped up and he looked over it. I thought that.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
They were going to go at it, not necessarily fight,
but I thought Al Horford was going to go over
and have some serious words from him. Wound up walking away,
going down and kind of cheering the crowd on and
getting them loud.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
But that wasn't the only time that this game got
a little bit physical.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Later in the game, Christas Porzingis, for the second time
in three weeks, exits the court at ted Garden with
blood dripping down his face. I don't know how this
keeps happening to Christasporzingis. Back on April fourth, excuse me,
he took a shot to the nose, he was bleeding,
walked off the court to go get stitches. He was
(06:12):
like putting his arms up to the crowd, smiling, laughing
as he walked off the court as they cheered him on.
His blood was dripping down his face. I was like,
that seems like a once in a lifetime situation where
a guy is leaving the court smiling while he's dripping
blood down his face. Well, sure enough, fast forward less
than three weeks later, it happened again tonight.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
He took a shot like right above the left eye, and.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
He was bleeding profusely and he had to leave the court.
Eventually did come back quickly so that he could come
back on the court and take his free throw, but
he did leave again. He received five stitches to that
area just above his eye on his forehead, wound up
being able to continue the rest of the night, and
then laughed it off in his postgame walk off interview
(06:59):
with Abuchin. A great postgame interview with Abychin. Props to
her for getting some great questions out there. I think
if you haven't seen it, go check out the NBC
Sports Boston channels. You're gonna enjoy that walk off. But yeah,
he takes another shot to the forehead. He's dripping blood.
He comes back on the court, He's got like blood
stain on the back of his head. I don't know
if they caught it on the broadcast, but it was
(07:22):
up on the JumboTron, and they're trying to like scrub
the blood off of his hair on the back of
his head. I just couldn't believe it was happening again.
But it did happen, And that was the second moment
in the game where it kind of felt like things
were getting a little bit chippy in you know, sometimes
people say a playoff series doesn't start until the road
team wins.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I think this series has started.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I think this one is well underway, and I think
the Boston Celtics aren't necessarily loving the physicality and the
way that the Orlando Magic are playing, and I think
the Celtics want to do something about it. And they
have done something about it in the first two games,
and that's taking a two to zero series lead. So
they got a chance to take a commanding lead as
they go down to Orlando in just a couple of days.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
So that was.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Interesting to see that chippiness and see a couple of
guys get a little bit tangled up. Porzingis second time
in a few weeks exits with blood dripping down his face,
But as he did the first time, the man came back,
just like any warrior would. He comes back and he
helps to deliver a win for the Boston Celtics. Now,
during the fourth quarter of this game got closer than
(08:29):
many people may have anticipated. The Celtics had pulled ahead
by double digits during the third quarter, felt really good
about themselves. Jalen Brown went on a nice little run
during that third quarter, was red hot from the field
and route to a big game for him.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
We'll touch on that later, But in.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
The fourth quarter, the Celtics needed to withstand the Orlando Magic,
making a little bit of a run. I think they
got back into within about six or seven points. In
every single time the Celtics made the play, it just
felt if it wasn't Jalen Brown driving to the basket
and scoring at the rim, it was Derreck White canning
a three pointer. And if it wasn't Derek White canning
(09:08):
a three pointer, it was Peyton Pritchard somehow finding a
way to score in the paint amongst the trees, against
all odds.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
So it's just like and if.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
It wasn't Peyton Pritchard doing that, it was someone else
doing something. And that was the story of the night
for the Boston Celtics, and we're gonna talk about that later,
of everyone stepping up, doing their job and getting the
job done despite the fact that they were missing a
top five player in the world in Jason Tatum. So
great to see everyone making plays, great to see them
(09:40):
throwing punch after punch in landing those punches during the
most critical juncture of the game. And that is how
the Celtics wound up pulling off this one oh nine
to one hundred win. I touched on Jalen Brown, that
man was unconscious in the second half. He scored twenty
two points during the second half alone, shot eight for
twelve from the field in the second half, and finishes
(10:01):
with one of his most impressive all around performances of
his very lengthy and very you.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Know, talked up.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
We've got multiple MVPs on his resume. This was one
of his best all around performances in his postseason career,
thirty six point double double scores thirty six points on
a very impressive twelve of nineteen from the field. I'll
do the math for you there. I got the box
score in front of me. That's better than sixty three
percent from the field, shot five of seven from distance,
(10:32):
that's better than seventy one percent from three point range,
and also can seven of his eight free throws, so
that's eighty eight percent. The man was red hot from
all over the field, got it done on all three levels,
and then adds in ten rebounds, and then adds in
five assists and also grabs his steal. So, as I said,
(10:52):
just unequivocally one of Jalen Brown's most impressive all around
performances of his very very impressive playoff career thus far
that I will remind you once more he has an
Eastern Conference Finals MVP, and he's got an NBA Finals MVP,
and this game is up there as one of his
best that he's put forth during the postseason. So great
(11:15):
during his postseason career, So great to see him looking
like himself. I think that first game won for both
him and Jason Tatum was just a little bit of rhythm.
They were out of rhythm after having a bunch of
time off. Well, Jalen Brown's back in rhythm already, we
saw it tonight. Let's hope that Jason Tatum gets back
in rhythm when he hopefully returns to the court on
(11:35):
Friday night for a Game three. All right, let's dive
into some comments from our fans. First up, we've got
Jackson Boland on the Drew Holiday dunk game. I couldn't
believe what I was seeing when I saw this play.
Can't wait to talk about it. Next up, we've got
Christopher Cody on the determination that he is seeing from
this Celtics team. And then, last but not least, we've
(11:57):
got Nicholas on multiple players across the lineup and across
the roster, stepping up in Game two tonight to take
a two zero series lead. So let's dive into the
first one. Jackson Bowlin, you are up.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
All right.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
As I said, Jackson, you are up first. And here
is Jackson's comment, simply couldn't lose the Drew Holliday dunk
game Mark. I agree as I said, I could not
believe what I was seeing. This happened midway through the
second quarter, literally six minutes left on the clock. Jalen
Brown is posting up in the paint. He draws a
(12:32):
double team, kind of looks in a few different directions,
doesn't know where to go to the with the ball
winds up, kicking it out to Drew Holiday on the
left wing. Drew catches it, and as he always does,
he was a step ahead of the defense. Read exactly
what the magic we're doing. He caught it, he drove
and took it off the dribble boom boom, two dribbles,
(12:53):
rises up and slams one home. And that got this crowd,
which I already talked about, was jacked up. That play
got them even more jacked up. Because we don't see
many dunks from Drew Holliday at this point in his career.
I don't even know what his total dunks were this season.
Had to be less than ten. I would think I
could be wrong, look it up after this podcast, but
(13:16):
I think it would be less than ten on the season.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
And this wasn't just a dunk.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
This was like an emphatic dunk, like he was hanging
on the rim, swinging around like he was feeling it,
kind of beating his chest up there as he was
hanging on the rim as he should because this was
a big play in the game. Wound up giving the
Celtics a six point lead at that point, but it
just was part of the game long momentum and that
(13:40):
game long wave that the Celtics were building. That play
was a big one that got them feeling good about
themselves as they headed toward the halftime break. So Drew
Holliday another really strong performance from him across the board,
team high six assists to go along with eleven points
for rebounds. A block shot. This guy always logs a stock.
(14:03):
If it's not one, it's the other, or maybe even both.
But he's been shooting the ball efficiently. He's reading the
defense and he just looks fresh. And that's not something
that we could say all season about Drew Holliday. For
a guy coming off of winning an NBA championship and
then going straight into the Olympics and then going straight
into the NBA season, like, he didn't look like this
(14:25):
all year. He looks excellent right now. And that is
a great omen for the Boston Celtics to have their
Swiss Army Knife looking like himself, looking healthy and feeling
bouncy enough to not only take it off the dribble,
but to rise up off of two dribbles and throw
it down a monster dunk that got TD guard and
cheering all over the place. So let's hope we see
(14:45):
more of this out of Drew Holliday. Hey, don't forget
about Drew Holliday. Okay, all the attention Derek White, Jaylen Brown,
Jason Tatum, maybe even some Christas Porzingis or Peyton Pritchard talk,
don't forget about Drew Holliday. He's one of the best
two way players in the NBA. Don't just look at
(15:07):
the stats, understand what he brings to the table every
single night. All right, Next comment coming in from Christopher Cody,
who says, nice win. They look determined this year not
to let the teams hang around, and that is that
has been the case through the first couple of games.
(15:27):
The Celtics have built leads, they've mostly maintained those leads
or even added to them as the game has gone on.
I talked about it already, the magic We're trying to
make it run during that fourth quarter, but the Celtics
withstood it, they fended it off, and they made big
play after big play when they needed to make those plays.
I would venture to say, you know, at this point,
(15:48):
we've gone through a couple games of this series in
I think, just just doing some cook math, I knew
they only trailed by I think for about like two minutes,
a little less than two minutes in all of one.
Game two was pretty darn similar. The Celtics were playing
from ahead for almost the entirety of this game. So
that's two straight games that they have done that almost
(16:10):
a wire to wire victory, and they have built on
the leads as the games have gone on, and that
is a great sign to see from the Boston Celtics.
To Christopher's point here, they look determined and that's not
to say that they didn't look determined last year. They
played really good basketball last year in the postseason to
be able to go on and win the NBA Championship.
(16:31):
That's the only way you're gonna win is if you
played great. However, so far, through two games, and again
this is a small sample size. We're barely into the postseason.
We got to see what winds up happening, but so far,
they do look determined to not let teams make those runs,
to not let teams get back into the games, and
to make sure that they are controlling the contest basically
(16:54):
from halftime on, and they have done that for the
for sure, for the entire second half of these first
two games. So Christopher, great, great analysis. That was a
really great thing to pull out of this game in
game one. So we appreciate you sending that in. Please
keep in touch, make sure you send in more as
the postseason goes on. All right, folks, last comment of
(17:17):
the night. This one is coming in from Nicholas, who says,
all the guys stepped up. Love to see it, and yes,
we have to talk about that because this was a
performance across the board for the Boston Celtics. Everyone contributed
to this win. And I don't care if you look
down the lineup and only eight guys played in this game.
(17:37):
Usually it's a nine man rotation, but you lose Jason
Tatum and Joe Mizula wound.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Up just rolling with eight.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Those are the eight that he wants to play right
now when Jason Tatum is out, and he rolled with
him tonight. Now again, I don't care if you look
at the stats and you don't see big numbers. Luke
Cornett only two points, two rebounds in a steal. Sam
Houser zero points, only took two shots in this game,
one rebound, one block. Those guys didn't provide a ton statistically,
(18:05):
but they did provide a lot in terms of being
able to provide quality minutes and letting the Celtics and
helping the Celtics Celtics to keep a rhythm at both
ends of the court while while they were out there.
It's not all about numbers. If the other guys are
getting numbers, you gotta let them do their thing. Don't
force it, don't try to like make an impact on
(18:25):
the game. Just let that happen. And Cornette and Sam
Hauser allowed that to happen tonight, So that was great
to see out of them. But then the other players
on the team, the other six guys, excuse me, seven guys,
it was six guys.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
The other six guys.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Who played in this game, five of them scored in
double figures with at least eleven points. Al Horford was
the only one out of those top six who did
not hit double figures, but he finished with nine points.
You got three guys with ten rebounds, three not one,
not two, but three different who grabbed at least ten rebounds.
All of them actually grabbed exactly three rebounds or ten rebounds.
(19:06):
Then you've got three players who dished out at least
five assists. You've got multiple players with steals and blocks.
Christaps Porzingis with two steals and two blocks, and the
big numbers come from Jalen Brown thirty six points, ten rebounds,
five assists. As we already talked about, Christas Porzingis with
the other big game tonight for the Boston Celtics twenty
(19:27):
points and ten rebounds.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
A couple blocks, and a couple of steels.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
So you got a thirty six point double double from
Jalen you got a twenty point double double from Christaus Porzingis,
and those guys were providing defense and just fitting in
with the team.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
This was a great team win. You needed everyone across.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
The board to provide a boost, to play within themselves
and to trust their teammates. That's exactly what happened out
of these eight guys who played in this game, as
they did not have the superstar, one of the top
five players in the world in Jason Tatum, to be
able to come out on the court for this game.
So great to see a great comment here from Nicholas.
(20:06):
I love the observation. All the guys stepped up. You
love to see it, you absolutely do. And we can
only expect this to continue as the rest of the
postseason goes on, because this is what the Celtics have
proven time and time again this season when push comes
to shove and they need someone to step up, which
they had to all season long because there were injuries
(20:28):
all regular season. Anytime someone needs to step up, they
do it. And it doesn't just have to be numbers.
It has to be what you are providing to help
the team win. Everyone did that tonight and I think
we're going to see a lot more of that as
this postseason continues on and it does continue on Friday night.
We've got Game three coming up down in Orlando. Tip
(20:52):
Off is at seven o'clock if you're local, make sure
you catch the game on NBC Sports Boston. Let's hope
the Celtics can take a commanding Rio series lead after
that game ends. Respond to my post on X send
me all of your comments, and then make sure you
tune in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast platform
to give us a watch or a listen. Thank you
(21:13):
for joining me tonight for the sound Off postgame podcast,
and I can't wait to see you Friday night
Down off with me, folks on the Boston Celtics taking
a two to zero series lead over the Orlando Magic
in the NBA Playoffs, despite the fact that they were
missing Jason Tatum for the first time ever in a
playoff game since he came into the NBA in twenty seventeen.
That is what happened Wednesday night, and now the Celtics
(00:27):
are feeling pretty good about themselves heading down to Orlando.
Welcome into the SoundOff postgame podcast. I appreciate you giving
us a watch or a listen. Please make sure to
subscribe on whatever channel you are on and make sure
to tune in and give us a listen or a
watch after every single Celtics game the rest of the season.
(00:48):
This happens after every game, So throw me your comments
after the final buzzer. Click subscribe, come back and join us.
We want you to be a part of the show
and we want to talk about everything that happens for
the Boston Celtics as the rest of the postseason unfolds.
Now listen, We've got a lot to cover in this podcast,
and I want to give you an idea first off
and foremost about what we're going to be talking about
(01:10):
from our fans tonight who submitted comments on x We've
got a few comments, one of which is on the
Drew Holliday dunk game. Can't wait to touch on that later,
the determination of the Celtics and how they are playing
right now, And then last but now least, we've got
a comment on players across the board stepping up tonight
(01:31):
while Jason Tatum was out. But first, let's go through
a little recap of this game. What I saw, what
I felt while I was in the arena. Let's dive
into it right now. As we've touched on, Jason Tatum
did miss the first postseason game of his NBA career.
It's really incredible when you think about it. I was
(01:51):
sitting next to Taylor Snow of Celtics dot Com. We
were talking about it right when.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
The game started.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I was like, this is the first game he's ever
missed in the NBA playoffs, isn't it? And he was like, no,
I think he missed. No, wait, this is the first
game that he's ever missed. Think about that. Think how
many games the Boston Celtics have played in the postseason
in Jason Tatum's career and this is the first time
ever that he's missed a game. Says a lot about
(02:16):
his durability and his ability to bring the goods every night.
Tonight he missed the game. He's got a sore wrist.
Sounds like he's going to be back sometime soon, possibly
for Game three. The Celtics didn't rule him out until
shortly before tip off tonight. He was listed as doubtful
when we woke up on Wednesday. But let's hope that
he is back for Friday's Game three down in Orlando.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The Celtics without him got off to a slow start offensively,
at least they were struggling. I think they shot about
twenty six percent from the field during the first quarter,
not very good. But they kept with it and they
figured it out. And by the way, the crowd was
behind them. If you were at this game, if your
(03:01):
friends or family were at this game, I have to
applaud them. This was an unbelievable atmosphere at TD Garden
for Game two of the first round against a team
that was the number seven seed in the Eastern Conference
that was in the play in tournament. The fans brought
(03:22):
the goods from start to finish in this game.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
They were on their feet, they.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Were loud, they were cheering there guys on chance all
night long. We had d White chance, we had KP chance,
MVP chants for Jaylen Brown.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
We had it all.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
This crowd was like Eastern Conference Finals, NBA Finals level
loud in intensity, and they were locked in from start
to finish. And I guarantee you if you went in
the locker room and asked the players, and they might
be being asked that right now as I record this about
the crowd tonight, I guarantee you they would tell you
that the crowd certainly helped them in some of those
(03:59):
key moment and key runs in this game too. So
thank you to all the fans out there for bringing
the goods tonight. If you were watching from home, I'm
sure you felt the energy. This was an unbelievable atmosphere.
And if we're getting this on game two in the
first round, good god. I don't even know what to
expect if and when the Celtics move on to the
(04:21):
next series and hopefully beyond that. So great job by
the crowd tonight. We did see a little bit of
chippiness in this game a couple different times on Tuesday
at practice, Al Horford spoke to the media, and you know,
he talked about the fact that he did not like
some of the fouls that were committed by Contavious Caldwell,
Pope of the Orlando Magic during Game one. One of
(04:44):
those fouls is what led to Jason Tatum staying down
on the ground for a couple of minutes and then
eventually missing Game two tonight due to that sore wrist.
Horford and KCP actually got tangled up a little bit
in transition. Horford it seemed like he took exception a
little bit, thought that CACP might have done it on purpose.
(05:06):
The play was reviewed and the referees determined that there
was nothing foul about it. There was nothing on purpose,
no intent, There was no wind up anything like that.
I think their feet just got tangled up as they
were transitioning back in the other way or other direction
on the court. I understand though, that Al Horford has
a little bit of extra context about what happened in
(05:27):
his from his perspective during the first game, so he
felt some type of way.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
He popped up and he looked over it. I thought that.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
They were going to go at it, not necessarily fight,
but I thought Al Horford was going to go over
and have some serious words from him. Wound up walking away,
going down and kind of cheering the crowd on and
getting them loud.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
But that wasn't the only time that this game got
a little bit physical.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Later in the game, Christas Porzingis, for the second time
in three weeks, exits the court at ted Garden with
blood dripping down his face. I don't know how this
keeps happening to Christasporzingis. Back on April fourth, excuse me,
he took a shot to the nose, he was bleeding,
walked off the court to go get stitches. He was
(06:12):
like putting his arms up to the crowd, smiling, laughing
as he walked off the court as they cheered him on.
His blood was dripping down his face. I was like,
that seems like a once in a lifetime situation where
a guy is leaving the court smiling while he's dripping
blood down his face. Well, sure enough, fast forward less
than three weeks later, it happened again tonight.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
He took a shot like right above the left eye, and.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
He was bleeding profusely and he had to leave the court.
Eventually did come back quickly so that he could come
back on the court and take his free throw, but
he did leave again. He received five stitches to that
area just above his eye on his forehead, wound up
being able to continue the rest of the night, and
then laughed it off in his postgame walk off interview
(06:59):
with Abuchin. A great postgame interview with Abychin. Props to
her for getting some great questions out there. I think
if you haven't seen it, go check out the NBC
Sports Boston channels. You're gonna enjoy that walk off. But yeah,
he takes another shot to the forehead. He's dripping blood.
He comes back on the court, He's got like blood
stain on the back of his head. I don't know
if they caught it on the broadcast, but it was
(07:22):
up on the JumboTron, and they're trying to like scrub
the blood off of his hair on the back of
his head. I just couldn't believe it was happening again.
But it did happen, And that was the second moment
in the game where it kind of felt like things
were getting a little bit chippy in you know, sometimes
people say a playoff series doesn't start until the road
team wins.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I think this series has started.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I think this one is well underway, and I think
the Boston Celtics aren't necessarily loving the physicality and the
way that the Orlando Magic are playing, and I think
the Celtics want to do something about it. And they
have done something about it in the first two games,
and that's taking a two to zero series lead. So
they got a chance to take a commanding lead as
they go down to Orlando in just a couple of days.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
So that was.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Interesting to see that chippiness and see a couple of
guys get a little bit tangled up. Porzingis second time
in a few weeks exits with blood dripping down his face,
But as he did the first time, the man came back,
just like any warrior would. He comes back and he
helps to deliver a win for the Boston Celtics. Now,
during the fourth quarter of this game got closer than
(08:29):
many people may have anticipated. The Celtics had pulled ahead
by double digits during the third quarter, felt really good
about themselves. Jalen Brown went on a nice little run
during that third quarter, was red hot from the field
and route to a big game for him.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
We'll touch on that later, But in.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
The fourth quarter, the Celtics needed to withstand the Orlando Magic,
making a little bit of a run. I think they
got back into within about six or seven points. In
every single time the Celtics made the play, it just
felt if it wasn't Jalen Brown driving to the basket
and scoring at the rim, it was Derreck White canning
a three pointer. And if it wasn't Derek White canning
(09:08):
a three pointer, it was Peyton Pritchard somehow finding a
way to score in the paint amongst the trees, against
all odds.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
So it's just like and if.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
It wasn't Peyton Pritchard doing that, it was someone else
doing something. And that was the story of the night
for the Boston Celtics, and we're gonna talk about that later,
of everyone stepping up, doing their job and getting the
job done despite the fact that they were missing a
top five player in the world in Jason Tatum. So
great to see everyone making plays, great to see them
(09:40):
throwing punch after punch in landing those punches during the
most critical juncture of the game. And that is how
the Celtics wound up pulling off this one oh nine
to one hundred win. I touched on Jalen Brown, that
man was unconscious in the second half. He scored twenty
two points during the second half alone, shot eight for
twelve from the field in the second half, and finishes
(10:01):
with one of his most impressive all around performances of
his very lengthy and very you.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Know, talked up.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
We've got multiple MVPs on his resume. This was one
of his best all around performances in his postseason career,
thirty six point double double scores thirty six points on
a very impressive twelve of nineteen from the field. I'll
do the math for you there. I got the box
score in front of me. That's better than sixty three
percent from the field, shot five of seven from distance,
(10:32):
that's better than seventy one percent from three point range,
and also can seven of his eight free throws, so
that's eighty eight percent. The man was red hot from
all over the field, got it done on all three levels,
and then adds in ten rebounds, and then adds in
five assists and also grabs his steal. So, as I said,
(10:52):
just unequivocally one of Jalen Brown's most impressive all around
performances of his very very impressive playoff career thus far
that I will remind you once more he has an
Eastern Conference Finals MVP, and he's got an NBA Finals MVP,
and this game is up there as one of his
best that he's put forth during the postseason. So great
(11:15):
during his postseason career, So great to see him looking
like himself. I think that first game won for both
him and Jason Tatum was just a little bit of rhythm.
They were out of rhythm after having a bunch of
time off. Well, Jalen Brown's back in rhythm already, we
saw it tonight. Let's hope that Jason Tatum gets back
in rhythm when he hopefully returns to the court on
(11:35):
Friday night for a Game three. All right, let's dive
into some comments from our fans. First up, we've got
Jackson Boland on the Drew Holiday dunk game. I couldn't
believe what I was seeing when I saw this play.
Can't wait to talk about it. Next up, we've got
Christopher Cody on the determination that he is seeing from
this Celtics team. And then, last but not least, we've
(11:57):
got Nicholas on multiple players across the lineup and across
the roster, stepping up in Game two tonight to take
a two zero series lead. So let's dive into the
first one. Jackson Bowlin, you are up.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
All right.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
As I said, Jackson, you are up first. And here
is Jackson's comment, simply couldn't lose the Drew Holliday dunk
game Mark. I agree as I said, I could not
believe what I was seeing. This happened midway through the
second quarter, literally six minutes left on the clock. Jalen
Brown is posting up in the paint. He draws a
(12:32):
double team, kind of looks in a few different directions,
doesn't know where to go to the with the ball
winds up, kicking it out to Drew Holiday on the
left wing. Drew catches it, and as he always does,
he was a step ahead of the defense. Read exactly
what the magic we're doing. He caught it, he drove
and took it off the dribble boom boom, two dribbles,
(12:53):
rises up and slams one home. And that got this crowd,
which I already talked about, was jacked up. That play
got them even more jacked up. Because we don't see
many dunks from Drew Holliday at this point in his career.
I don't even know what his total dunks were this season.
Had to be less than ten. I would think I
could be wrong, look it up after this podcast, but
(13:16):
I think it would be less than ten on the season.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
And this wasn't just a dunk.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
This was like an emphatic dunk, like he was hanging
on the rim, swinging around like he was feeling it,
kind of beating his chest up there as he was
hanging on the rim as he should because this was
a big play in the game. Wound up giving the
Celtics a six point lead at that point, but it
just was part of the game long momentum and that
(13:40):
game long wave that the Celtics were building. That play
was a big one that got them feeling good about
themselves as they headed toward the halftime break. So Drew
Holliday another really strong performance from him across the board,
team high six assists to go along with eleven points
for rebounds. A block shot. This guy always logs a stock.
(14:03):
If it's not one, it's the other, or maybe even both.
But he's been shooting the ball efficiently. He's reading the
defense and he just looks fresh. And that's not something
that we could say all season about Drew Holliday. For
a guy coming off of winning an NBA championship and
then going straight into the Olympics and then going straight
into the NBA season, like, he didn't look like this
(14:25):
all year. He looks excellent right now. And that is
a great omen for the Boston Celtics to have their
Swiss Army Knife looking like himself, looking healthy and feeling
bouncy enough to not only take it off the dribble,
but to rise up off of two dribbles and throw
it down a monster dunk that got TD guard and
cheering all over the place. So let's hope we see
(14:45):
more of this out of Drew Holliday. Hey, don't forget
about Drew Holliday. Okay, all the attention Derek White, Jaylen Brown,
Jason Tatum, maybe even some Christas Porzingis or Peyton Pritchard talk,
don't forget about Drew Holliday. He's one of the best
two way players in the NBA. Don't just look at
(15:07):
the stats, understand what he brings to the table every
single night. All right, Next comment coming in from Christopher Cody,
who says, nice win. They look determined this year not
to let the teams hang around, and that is that
has been the case through the first couple of games.
(15:27):
The Celtics have built leads, they've mostly maintained those leads
or even added to them as the game has gone on.
I talked about it already, the magic We're trying to
make it run during that fourth quarter, but the Celtics
withstood it, they fended it off, and they made big
play after big play when they needed to make those plays.
I would venture to say, you know, at this point,
(15:48):
we've gone through a couple games of this series in
I think, just just doing some cook math, I knew
they only trailed by I think for about like two minutes,
a little less than two minutes in all of one.
Game two was pretty darn similar. The Celtics were playing
from ahead for almost the entirety of this game. So
that's two straight games that they have done that almost
(16:10):
a wire to wire victory, and they have built on
the leads as the games have gone on, and that
is a great sign to see from the Boston Celtics.
To Christopher's point here, they look determined and that's not
to say that they didn't look determined last year. They
played really good basketball last year in the postseason to
be able to go on and win the NBA Championship.
(16:31):
That's the only way you're gonna win is if you
played great. However, so far, through two games, and again
this is a small sample size. We're barely into the postseason.
We got to see what winds up happening, but so far,
they do look determined to not let teams make those runs,
to not let teams get back into the games, and
to make sure that they are controlling the contest basically
(16:54):
from halftime on, and they have done that for the
for sure, for the entire second half of these first
two games. So Christopher, great, great analysis. That was a
really great thing to pull out of this game in
game one. So we appreciate you sending that in. Please
keep in touch, make sure you send in more as
the postseason goes on. All right, folks, last comment of
(17:17):
the night. This one is coming in from Nicholas, who says,
all the guys stepped up. Love to see it, and yes,
we have to talk about that because this was a
performance across the board for the Boston Celtics. Everyone contributed
to this win. And I don't care if you look
down the lineup and only eight guys played in this game.
(17:37):
Usually it's a nine man rotation, but you lose Jason
Tatum and Joe Mizula wound.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Up just rolling with eight.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Those are the eight that he wants to play right
now when Jason Tatum is out, and he rolled with
him tonight. Now again, I don't care if you look
at the stats and you don't see big numbers. Luke
Cornett only two points, two rebounds in a steal. Sam
Houser zero points, only took two shots in this game,
one rebound, one block. Those guys didn't provide a ton statistically,
(18:05):
but they did provide a lot in terms of being
able to provide quality minutes and letting the Celtics and
helping the Celtics Celtics to keep a rhythm at both
ends of the court while while they were out there.
It's not all about numbers. If the other guys are
getting numbers, you gotta let them do their thing. Don't
force it, don't try to like make an impact on
(18:25):
the game. Just let that happen. And Cornette and Sam
Hauser allowed that to happen tonight, So that was great
to see out of them. But then the other players
on the team, the other six guys, excuse me, seven guys,
it was six guys.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
The other six guys.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Who played in this game, five of them scored in
double figures with at least eleven points. Al Horford was
the only one out of those top six who did
not hit double figures, but he finished with nine points.
You got three guys with ten rebounds, three not one,
not two, but three different who grabbed at least ten rebounds.
All of them actually grabbed exactly three rebounds or ten rebounds.
(19:06):
Then you've got three players who dished out at least
five assists. You've got multiple players with steals and blocks.
Christaps Porzingis with two steals and two blocks, and the
big numbers come from Jalen Brown thirty six points, ten rebounds,
five assists. As we already talked about, Christas Porzingis with
the other big game tonight for the Boston Celtics twenty
(19:27):
points and ten rebounds.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
A couple blocks, and a couple of steels.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
So you got a thirty six point double double from
Jalen you got a twenty point double double from Christaus Porzingis,
and those guys were providing defense and just fitting in
with the team.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
This was a great team win. You needed everyone across.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
The board to provide a boost, to play within themselves
and to trust their teammates. That's exactly what happened out
of these eight guys who played in this game, as
they did not have the superstar, one of the top
five players in the world in Jason Tatum, to be
able to come out on the court for this game.
So great to see a great comment here from Nicholas.
(20:06):
I love the observation. All the guys stepped up. You
love to see it, you absolutely do. And we can
only expect this to continue as the rest of the
postseason goes on, because this is what the Celtics have
proven time and time again this season when push comes
to shove and they need someone to step up, which
they had to all season long because there were injuries
(20:28):
all regular season. Anytime someone needs to step up, they
do it. And it doesn't just have to be numbers.
It has to be what you are providing to help
the team win. Everyone did that tonight and I think
we're going to see a lot more of that as
this postseason continues on and it does continue on Friday night.
We've got Game three coming up down in Orlando. Tip
(20:52):
Off is at seven o'clock if you're local, make sure
you catch the game on NBC Sports Boston. Let's hope
the Celtics can take a commanding Rio series lead after
that game ends. Respond to my post on X send
me all of your comments, and then make sure you
tune in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast platform
to give us a watch or a listen. Thank you
(21:13):
for joining me tonight for the sound Off postgame podcast,
and I can't wait to see you Friday night
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