April 27, 2025 • 23 mins
The Celtics took a 3-1 series lead Sunday night thanks to a 16-7 run to close the game out. Jayson Tatum accounted for nine of those 16 points, including three off of yet another foul by Paolo Banchero on a Tatum 3. Boston’s superstar wing scored 37 points in the game, and he and Jaylen Brown combined to shoot 23-for-24 from the free-throw line. We’re sounding off on Boston’s increased aggression, the team’s defense led by Al Horford, and Boston being a league-best 20-2 on the season following a loss.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Now off with big folks on the Celtics now being
twenty and two on the season following a loss in
them now taking a three to one series lead over
the Orlando Magic back to Boston with a chance to
close this series out Tuesday night at TD Garden. This
is the SoundOff postgame podcast and you can be a
(00:27):
part of it every single night by sending in your
comments to me after the final buzzer. I appreciate you
giving us a listen. Please remember to click subscribe, share
this with your friends. Let's see more of Celtics Nation
tuning in and being a part of the podcast every
single night. All right, So Game four came down to
crunch time and only one team was able to rise
(00:50):
up to the occasion. That was the Celtics. Boston was
clutch down the stretch. There's no other way to say it.
They finished the game on a sixteen to seven run
over the final four minutes of the game, including nine
big points from the Man, the Myth, the Legend, Jason Tatum.
A couple highlights from that stretch, particularly for Jason Tatum.
(01:12):
He hit one ridiculous complete splash of the net on
a fade away j moment over Polo ben Caaro, fading
to his left, dropped it up high over the outstretched
Arma ban Caro straight through the net. That made it
ninety eight ninety two. And then shortly after that, Tatum
(01:32):
gets three free throws after ben Carroll followed him again
on a three point attempt. Now it feels like this
is happening every single night. And I started to think
about this as I was watching him, like, why is
Ben Carroll following him on three pointers every single game?
I think it's just because Tatum is that good. Tatum
(01:54):
is in ben Caro's head a little bit, sitting in.
Polo might be on the other side thinking like, I
can't figure out his rhythm, and I've got to contest
the shot because he's that great. If I don't contest it,
it's going in. So I believe that Jason Tatum's offense
is in the mind of Paulo Bencaro when he's on
(02:16):
defense and he just feels like he can't figure it out.
He's always got to contest the shot because if he doesn't,
Jason Tatum's gonna make it.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
But he follows him. It feels like every game.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
It literally might be every game, so far in the
series that Tatum has played one, three, and four, But tonight,
this one happens with a little over two minutes remaining.
Tatum goes to the line sinks all three to make
it a one on one ninety two game, and at
that point it's a rap. We know that Orlando does
not have enough offensive firepower to be able to come
(02:48):
back from that type of deficit in only a couple
of minutes. So that was the game right there. That
the play was challenged by Jamal Moseley, the head coach
of the Orlando Magic, but we all knew it was
gonna be a foul once we saw the replay. Ben
Caro ran right into Tatum's left shoulder as Tatum was
(03:09):
finishing a shot coming back down to the floor, and
that Folks is an automatic foul now, Missoula. Joe Mizula
was asked about what changed during those final four minutes
that allowed the Celtics to go on that sixteen to
seven run, and he said, we defended without fouling. We
(03:32):
held them to one shot and then just a bunch
of great shot making, I mean Tatum with some big shots,
Christas Porzingis with an and one bucket on a put
back slam off of a miss that he actually missed
at the rim, but he grabbed the board and put
it back. Just big play after big play across the board.
And that's at both ends of the court. And when
(03:53):
we're talking about both ends of the court, we got
to talk about the defense that we saw tonight from
three players in particular on Boston's roster. Jalen Brown played
some unbelievable defense for stretches against Paulo ben Cao and
by the way ben Caro finishes this game, he did
score thirty one points, but he needed thirty two shots
(04:16):
to get there. He missed twenty shots in the game.
Jason Tatum is the only Celtics player who took at
least twenty shots. Ben Caro missed twenty shot twelve for
thirty two on the night, thirty seven and a half
percent from the field. No team is beating the Celtics
when their star player is shooting thirty seven point five
(04:38):
percent from the field on thirty two attempts. It's just
not going to happen. And Jalen Brown played a very
significant role in that happening. He played great defense. He
was hounding Paulo ben Caro all night long, and really
for some key stretches allowed the Celtics to maintain a
little bit of a rhythm until they really got going
on offense.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
So great job by Jaylen Brown.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Peyton Pritchard also playing some great defense at times got
switched down to some of those bigger guys Franz Wagner,
Paolo Bencaro, and he was playing some solid stretches of
defense against those guys. But really, Peyton Pritchard in this
game did not score a point, but he was a
plus eleven in the plus minus category because of that defense,
(05:22):
because of the spacing that he provides. The defense has
to respect him. Even if he's not making a ton
of shots, and he only took two tonight, did not
make one. Wind up scoring zero points during this.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Game, But.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
You gotta love what you saw from Peyton Pritchard, still
impacting the game with defense, despite the fact that he
couldn't put the ball through the basket. On this night
and last, but certainly not least, we have to talk
about the ageless wonder that is number forty two Al Horford.
On this night, he blocked not one, not two, not three,
(06:01):
not four, five shots all by himself. Do you know
how many shots Orlando blocked as an entire team, four
al Horford blocked five all by himself. His defense changed
(06:24):
this game at multiple moments of the contest. In crunch
time earlier in the second half, when the Celtics needed
some stops, al Horford was making big play after big
play on defense. Listen, when we talk about Al Horford
in that nickname playoff Al, that is a real thing.
(06:48):
All this guy does is make winning plays. If it's
not making a three pointer, it's making the right decision
with the ball. If it's not making the right decision
with the ball, it's making a great read on defense.
And if it's not just making a great read on defense,
is blocking a shot or grabbing a steal or deflecting
a pass. He's always in the right spot. He is
(07:11):
always reliable, and he always gets it done, either at
one end or both ends, when the game is on
the line and it is crunch time. During the fourth
quarter after this game, Joe Missoula said of al Horford,
there should be a separate stat sheet for guys like him,
(07:33):
And that's exactly what we're talking about right now. It's
not all about points, rebounds, and assists, and really it's
not even about blocks.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It's just about the fact that al Horford.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Makes winning plays constantly during the NBA playoffs. He's done
it for his entire career. He's really made his mark
on the Boston Celtics during his seasons here with Boston,
including on that run to the championship last season. This
guy is the definition of winning play maker and he
(08:07):
did it tonight again, logging a big five blocks, a
game high five blocks, more blocks than Orlando's entire team,
and he became the second oldest player in NBA history
to block five shots in a game, behind only the
one and the only Kareem Abdul Jabbar. So al Horford
(08:28):
just continues to get it done by making big plays.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Now. The Celtics were much more aggressive during this game.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
They were reading what Orlando's doing with their defense and
that led to significant a significant spike in aggression from
the offense. Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown. They made more
free throws, and they attempted more free throws than Orlando's
entire team. They shot twenty three for twenty four from
the line. Orlando as a team shot fourteen from the line,
(09:01):
so again I'm gonna repeat Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum
made and attempted more free throws than Orlando's entire team.
It all boils down to aggression, and the Boston Celtics
decided tonight that they needed to play with aggression, and
that's exactly what they did. We're going to talk about
that a little bit later in the podcast with one
of our fans comments. There was a moment in getting
(09:23):
back to those moments down the stretch of crunch time,
as the Celtics were pulling away and Jason Tatum was
scoring nine of those sixteen points for Boston, there was
a moment we got to talk about this where after
the game, Christas Porzingi said he was watching Jason Tatum
in the game and just thinking in his mind, this
guy is special. When you've got one of your teammates
(09:44):
in the middle of a game, by the way, in
his second season, playing with you, thinking in his head
about how special you are as a basketball player. Yeah,
I'm pretty sure that means that you are about as
special as it gets when it comes to playing basketball.
In being a dominant force in the NBA, Christas Porzingis
couldn't help himself but to think about just how great
(10:07):
Jason Tatum is in the middle of this game.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
That is saying a lot again. Tatum scored nine of
the final sixteen points.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
For the Celtics to drive them into the winner circle
and to a three to one series lead. All right,
let's dive into some comments from our fans. First up,
we've got Celtics Ronaldo on the importance of the Celtics
taking the ball to the basket at a higher clip.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
We just touched on it. We're gonna go a little
bit deeper.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Next up, we've got two of a Madman on Jalen
Brown and Peyton Pritchard's defense.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
We touched on that. We're going after it again.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
And then, last but not least, we've got non Bostonian
fan on Boston's ability to respond after a loss. All right,
let's dive into the first one. Here, Celtics Ronaldo, you
are up. All right, here's Celtics Ronaldo's comment on X
here it is love. The way we started driving more
when we saw the magic was not helping on the drive.
(11:03):
Love when we play aggressive. All right, let's talk about this.
We all know Orlando was the number two defense in
the NBA. During the regular season, they are great, and
they take away the three point line. The Celtics averaged
about eighteen makes from long distance throughout the regular season.
(11:24):
In this series, they've been cut back big time on
that number. Game one, I believe they made sixteen the
game since then have not been to that number, and
tonight only nine.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
For thirty one from three point range.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
So basically, what we're saying is that Orlando makes it
a point to take away the three point line and
it's working. The Boston Celtics had to make an adjustment
and they did that tonight. They said, Okay, you're gonna
take away the three point line, we don't care. We
can beat you in another way, and that's exactly what happened.
They beat the Magic by taking them to the basket
(11:58):
and scoring in one on one situation. Brian Scalabrini on
the broadcast was calling this out throughout the game. Jason
Tatum is not getting double teamed. Okay, this is a
top five player in the NBA in the world who
is not getting double team by the Orlando Magic because
they want to stay home on all of those shooters
(12:19):
who surround Jason Tatum. They are allowing Tatum to operate
in one on one environments and tonight that led to
thirty seven points, a game high thirty seven points, I
might add, and he did that six more points than
Bencaro on five seven excuse me on seven fewer shots
(12:40):
from the field.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Now, how did he get there? It is the free
throw line.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum were dominant in getting to
the free throw line. We already touched on that. They
were twenty three for twenty four on the night from
the line. Orlando as a team just fourteen for twenty.
This all came down to aggression. The Celtics decided, we
are going to be aggressive because you are choosing to
(13:08):
take away the three point line and we can beat
you in a multitude of ways. If you're gonna take
away the three point line, we're gonna drive to the
rack and we're going to beat you at the basket
with our superstar players who are better than yours. And
if you're gonna take away us driving to the basket,
then we're gonna disperse the ball on the perimeter and
(13:28):
make three pointers as we did all season. This is
what Joe Missoula wants to see out of the Boston Celtics.
This is what is necessary in order to win an
NBA Championship. You can't win every game the same way.
You need to be malleable. You need to have a
roster that can be flexible. You need to be able
to win in different ways. Tonight, the Boston Celtics chose
(13:52):
to take the ball to the basket. They were going
to play with aggression. That is what they did, and
that is what got them into the winners circle, not
the three point line. So to Ronaldo's point, just loved
the way that the Celtics started driving more when they
saw that the Magic weren't helping on those drives. Hey,
if the openings are there, you gotta take advantage. If
(14:14):
the creases are there, you gotta take advantage. The Celtics
did that in particular Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and
that is why the Boston Celtics are taking a three
to one lead all the way back to Boston. All right,
Next up, we've got two of a mad Man thirty
six saying Pritchard and Jalen's defensive impact didn't show on
(14:35):
the box score.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
This is how I know you were watching the game
two of a mad Man thirty six, because if you
just look at the box scorer after a game, it's
the same thing that Joe Missoula was saying about Al Horford.
Some things aren't quantified in the box score. You just
don't know exactly what happened on the court if you
didn't watch the game. If you just look at this
(14:58):
the next morning, there are going to be people who
look at the boss score tomorrow who didn't watch this
game and think, how did Peyton Pritchard finish with a
plus eleven and the plus minus category. He didn't score,
he only had one rebound, only had two assists.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
How did this happen?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
It was defense and it was providing spacing for his
teammates at the offensive end. Even though he didn't score
Jalm Brown, he did score twenty one points on the night,
nine of ten from the free throw line. Obviously, it's
great to see that of him being able to score
for the Celtics, but his defensive impact was really top
(15:40):
notch tonight.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
He grabbed two steals.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
But it's not even the numbers, it's just if you're
watching the game, you can tell that he is making
life a living hell on the player that he's defending
in for much of this game, that was Paulo Bouncaro,
and obviously Peyton Pritchard, as we talked about earlier, also
got switched down a bank Cara times and he did
a great job. So when you've got two different guys
(16:04):
who bring two different things to the table in terms
of how they approach defense and how they make an impact,
both of them doing it while one of them didn't
score at all, one of them didn't have their best
offensive night, only twenty one points for Jalen on six
of sixteen shooting from the field. Man, those guys are
just doing exactly what the Celtics need to win games.
(16:27):
Jalen Brown said it after. I don't know if it
was Game one or two, but he said, whatever it takes,
I'm going to do whatever it takes to win on
a nightly basis, not only in this series, but throughout
this entire playoff run. I will do whatever it takes.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Tonight. What was necessary from him is upping the anti defensively.
He did it.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
He answered the bell, he brought the defensive goods. He
impacted the game just enough for the Boston Celtics to
be able to come back to Boston with a nine
point win in a three to one series lead. So
great job by Jalen stepping up to the plate. Defensively,
great job by Peyton Pritchard impacting the game on a
(17:16):
night when he wasn't even able to score a single point.
Excellent job by them at the defensive end. And he
gotta think now the Celtics have a little bit of
a recipe, and let's see if that recipe winds up
coming out yet again in Tuesday nights Game five. Okay, folks,
last comment of the night. This one's coming in from
(17:38):
non Bostonian fan. I'm intrigued. I don't know why you're
a non Bostonian fan making this comment on a Celtics account,
but here we go.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
All right.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
The comment is the Champs responded and executed like what
they always do after a loss. They maintain classiness in
doing so, and as always, most important is that they
did not panic and overreact like what a lot of
spoiled Seas fans slash stands always do after a loss.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
All right, we'll get into that last part.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
In just a moment, but let's concentrate on the start
of this comment from non Bostonian fan. First, the Champs
responded and executed like they always do after a loss.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
That's true.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
The Boston Celtics are now twenty and two on the
season following a loss.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
That is ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Imagine that you lose a game and the next game
is almost an automatic victory based off of what the
trend has been the entire season. At this point, we
are eighty six games into this year. The Celtics have
lost consecutive games twice twice twenty and two after losses.
(18:55):
That's incredible, incredible mental and physical fortitude. To be able
to bounce back almost every single time you lose a
game really is saying a lot about the Boston Celtics.
So that is an NBA best number and that's something
that we should keep track on as the rest of
this postseason continues, and they maintain classiness throughout doing so
(19:17):
is what non bust Donion fans is.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
I mean there were some moments where this got a
little chippy. This series has been a little chippy. The
Celtics have not done anything dirty. They have responded to
the physicality that has been brought to the table by
the Orlando Magic. The Celtics aren't committing flagrant fouls, and
when the flagrant fils are committed against them, or they
aren't necessarily respected the way that they should be, they're
(19:44):
gonna say something, but they're not going to take it.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Over the line.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
So classiness is what the Celtics are displaying every single game,
despite the fact that you know, there have been some
moments that they might think we're not exactly classy on
the other side of the ball.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
So great job by the Celtics.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Keeping their cool and not overreacting in panicking as non
Bostonian fans here.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Now, the last comment.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Here says that a lot of spoiled Celtics fans and
stands always overreact and panic after a loss. Listen, if
you're overreacting in panicking after a Celtics loss at this point,
I don't know what to tell you. The Celtics are
twenty and two on the season after losses. That should
tell you right there that there's no need for you
(20:32):
to get concerned or overreact or panic. They're the best
in the NBA when it comes to bouncing back the
night after a loss, So keep that in mind as
the rest of this postseason unfolds. The Celtics are the
best in the business, that includes the Oklahoma City Thunder,
the best in the business when it comes to bouncing
(20:56):
back after losses. Tonight's win makes them twenty and two
on the season. So don't be spoiled, don't overreact, don't panic.
These Celtics won a championship last season. This is the
same core group. They're not gonna overreact. They're not gonna panic,
(21:19):
and neither should you. Well now after they didn't overreacting
panic and they got that win. After the loss, they're
now flying back to Boston as we speak, with a
three to one series lead, and they've got a chance
to close this out Tuesday night. Tuesday is gonna be
(21:39):
a late night, folks. I hope you don't have much
to do Wednesday morning. This game is late. It's like
finals level late. I don't know why, don't ask me,
but that's what the NBA did. The Boston Celtics and
the Orlando Magic will tip off Game five at I
don't even want to say it, eight thirty pm Tuesday night.
(22:02):
This game is not gonna end until probably after eleven
o'clock Tuesday night. So again, put your kids down, take
off work on Wednesday, do whatever you gotta do to
be able to either come to this game or support
the Celtics by watching on the broadcast. Locally, you can
catch it on NBC Sports Boston and otherwise make sure
(22:22):
you tune in to NBA TV. Thanks again for giving
me a listen. Please again reminder to subscribe share this
podcast so all of Celtics Nation can be a part
of it. I will see you Tuesday night. We're gonna
have the video version up on YouTube after that late
late tip off at eight thirty pm.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Thank you again. We'll see you Tuesday night.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Let's see at the Celtics can close this out and
move on to the next show.
Now off with big folks on the Celtics now being
twenty and two on the season following a loss in
them now taking a three to one series lead over
the Orlando Magic back to Boston with a chance to
close this series out Tuesday night at TD Garden. This
is the SoundOff postgame podcast and you can be a
(00:27):
part of it every single night by sending in your
comments to me after the final buzzer. I appreciate you
giving us a listen. Please remember to click subscribe, share
this with your friends. Let's see more of Celtics Nation
tuning in and being a part of the podcast every
single night. All right, So Game four came down to
crunch time and only one team was able to rise
(00:50):
up to the occasion. That was the Celtics. Boston was
clutch down the stretch. There's no other way to say it.
They finished the game on a sixteen to seven run
over the final four minutes of the game, including nine
big points from the Man, the Myth, the Legend, Jason Tatum.
A couple highlights from that stretch, particularly for Jason Tatum.
(01:12):
He hit one ridiculous complete splash of the net on
a fade away j moment over Polo ben Caaro, fading
to his left, dropped it up high over the outstretched
Arma ban Caro straight through the net. That made it
ninety eight ninety two. And then shortly after that, Tatum
(01:32):
gets three free throws after ben Carroll followed him again
on a three point attempt. Now it feels like this
is happening every single night. And I started to think
about this as I was watching him, like, why is
Ben Carroll following him on three pointers every single game?
I think it's just because Tatum is that good. Tatum
(01:54):
is in ben Caro's head a little bit, sitting in.
Polo might be on the other side thinking like, I
can't figure out his rhythm, and I've got to contest
the shot because he's that great. If I don't contest it,
it's going in. So I believe that Jason Tatum's offense
is in the mind of Paulo Bencaro when he's on
(02:16):
defense and he just feels like he can't figure it out.
He's always got to contest the shot because if he doesn't,
Jason Tatum's gonna make it.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
But he follows him. It feels like every game.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
It literally might be every game, so far in the
series that Tatum has played one, three, and four, But tonight,
this one happens with a little over two minutes remaining.
Tatum goes to the line sinks all three to make
it a one on one ninety two game, and at
that point it's a rap. We know that Orlando does
not have enough offensive firepower to be able to come
(02:48):
back from that type of deficit in only a couple
of minutes. So that was the game right there. That
the play was challenged by Jamal Moseley, the head coach
of the Orlando Magic, but we all knew it was
gonna be a foul once we saw the replay. Ben
Caro ran right into Tatum's left shoulder as Tatum was
(03:09):
finishing a shot coming back down to the floor, and
that Folks is an automatic foul now, Missoula. Joe Mizula
was asked about what changed during those final four minutes
that allowed the Celtics to go on that sixteen to
seven run, and he said, we defended without fouling. We
(03:32):
held them to one shot and then just a bunch
of great shot making, I mean Tatum with some big shots,
Christas Porzingis with an and one bucket on a put
back slam off of a miss that he actually missed
at the rim, but he grabbed the board and put
it back. Just big play after big play across the board.
And that's at both ends of the court. And when
(03:53):
we're talking about both ends of the court, we got
to talk about the defense that we saw tonight from
three players in particular on Boston's roster. Jalen Brown played
some unbelievable defense for stretches against Paulo ben Cao and
by the way ben Caro finishes this game, he did
score thirty one points, but he needed thirty two shots
(04:16):
to get there. He missed twenty shots in the game.
Jason Tatum is the only Celtics player who took at
least twenty shots. Ben Caro missed twenty shot twelve for
thirty two on the night, thirty seven and a half
percent from the field. No team is beating the Celtics
when their star player is shooting thirty seven point five
(04:38):
percent from the field on thirty two attempts. It's just
not going to happen. And Jalen Brown played a very
significant role in that happening. He played great defense. He
was hounding Paulo ben Caro all night long, and really
for some key stretches allowed the Celtics to maintain a
little bit of a rhythm until they really got going
on offense.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
So great job by Jaylen Brown.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Peyton Pritchard also playing some great defense at times got
switched down to some of those bigger guys Franz Wagner,
Paolo Bencaro, and he was playing some solid stretches of
defense against those guys. But really, Peyton Pritchard in this
game did not score a point, but he was a
plus eleven in the plus minus category because of that defense,
(05:22):
because of the spacing that he provides. The defense has
to respect him. Even if he's not making a ton
of shots, and he only took two tonight, did not
make one. Wind up scoring zero points during this.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Game, But.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
You gotta love what you saw from Peyton Pritchard, still
impacting the game with defense, despite the fact that he
couldn't put the ball through the basket. On this night
and last, but certainly not least, we have to talk
about the ageless wonder that is number forty two Al Horford.
On this night, he blocked not one, not two, not three,
(06:01):
not four, five shots all by himself. Do you know
how many shots Orlando blocked as an entire team, four
al Horford blocked five all by himself. His defense changed
(06:24):
this game at multiple moments of the contest. In crunch
time earlier in the second half, when the Celtics needed
some stops, al Horford was making big play after big
play on defense. Listen, when we talk about Al Horford
in that nickname playoff Al, that is a real thing.
(06:48):
All this guy does is make winning plays. If it's
not making a three pointer, it's making the right decision
with the ball. If it's not making the right decision
with the ball, it's making a great read on defense.
And if it's not just making a great read on defense,
is blocking a shot or grabbing a steal or deflecting
a pass. He's always in the right spot. He is
(07:11):
always reliable, and he always gets it done, either at
one end or both ends, when the game is on
the line and it is crunch time. During the fourth
quarter after this game, Joe Missoula said of al Horford,
there should be a separate stat sheet for guys like him,
(07:33):
And that's exactly what we're talking about right now. It's
not all about points, rebounds, and assists, and really it's
not even about blocks.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It's just about the fact that al Horford.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Makes winning plays constantly during the NBA playoffs. He's done
it for his entire career. He's really made his mark
on the Boston Celtics during his seasons here with Boston,
including on that run to the championship last season. This
guy is the definition of winning play maker and he
(08:07):
did it tonight again, logging a big five blocks, a
game high five blocks, more blocks than Orlando's entire team,
and he became the second oldest player in NBA history
to block five shots in a game, behind only the
one and the only Kareem Abdul Jabbar. So al Horford
(08:28):
just continues to get it done by making big plays.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Now. The Celtics were much more aggressive during this game.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
They were reading what Orlando's doing with their defense and
that led to significant a significant spike in aggression from
the offense. Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown. They made more
free throws, and they attempted more free throws than Orlando's
entire team. They shot twenty three for twenty four from
the line. Orlando as a team shot fourteen from the line,
(09:01):
so again I'm gonna repeat Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum
made and attempted more free throws than Orlando's entire team.
It all boils down to aggression, and the Boston Celtics
decided tonight that they needed to play with aggression, and
that's exactly what they did. We're going to talk about
that a little bit later in the podcast with one
of our fans comments. There was a moment in getting
(09:23):
back to those moments down the stretch of crunch time,
as the Celtics were pulling away and Jason Tatum was
scoring nine of those sixteen points for Boston, there was
a moment we got to talk about this where after
the game, Christas Porzingi said he was watching Jason Tatum
in the game and just thinking in his mind, this
guy is special. When you've got one of your teammates
(09:44):
in the middle of a game, by the way, in
his second season, playing with you, thinking in his head
about how special you are as a basketball player. Yeah,
I'm pretty sure that means that you are about as
special as it gets when it comes to playing basketball.
In being a dominant force in the NBA, Christas Porzingis
couldn't help himself but to think about just how great
(10:07):
Jason Tatum is in the middle of this game.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
That is saying a lot again. Tatum scored nine of
the final sixteen points.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
For the Celtics to drive them into the winner circle
and to a three to one series lead. All right,
let's dive into some comments from our fans. First up,
we've got Celtics Ronaldo on the importance of the Celtics
taking the ball to the basket at a higher clip.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
We just touched on it. We're gonna go a little
bit deeper.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Next up, we've got two of a Madman on Jalen
Brown and Peyton Pritchard's defense.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
We touched on that. We're going after it again.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
And then, last but not least, we've got non Bostonian
fan on Boston's ability to respond after a loss. All right,
let's dive into the first one. Here, Celtics Ronaldo, you
are up. All right, here's Celtics Ronaldo's comment on X
here it is love. The way we started driving more
when we saw the magic was not helping on the drive.
(11:03):
Love when we play aggressive. All right, let's talk about this.
We all know Orlando was the number two defense in
the NBA. During the regular season, they are great, and
they take away the three point line. The Celtics averaged
about eighteen makes from long distance throughout the regular season.
(11:24):
In this series, they've been cut back big time on
that number. Game one, I believe they made sixteen the
game since then have not been to that number, and
tonight only nine.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
For thirty one from three point range.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
So basically, what we're saying is that Orlando makes it
a point to take away the three point line and
it's working. The Boston Celtics had to make an adjustment
and they did that tonight. They said, Okay, you're gonna
take away the three point line, we don't care. We
can beat you in another way, and that's exactly what happened.
They beat the Magic by taking them to the basket
(11:58):
and scoring in one on one situation. Brian Scalabrini on
the broadcast was calling this out throughout the game. Jason
Tatum is not getting double teamed. Okay, this is a
top five player in the NBA in the world who
is not getting double team by the Orlando Magic because
they want to stay home on all of those shooters
(12:19):
who surround Jason Tatum. They are allowing Tatum to operate
in one on one environments and tonight that led to
thirty seven points, a game high thirty seven points, I
might add, and he did that six more points than
Bencaro on five seven excuse me on seven fewer shots
(12:40):
from the field.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Now, how did he get there? It is the free
throw line.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum were dominant in getting to
the free throw line. We already touched on that. They
were twenty three for twenty four on the night from
the line. Orlando as a team just fourteen for twenty.
This all came down to aggression. The Celtics decided, we
are going to be aggressive because you are choosing to
(13:08):
take away the three point line and we can beat
you in a multitude of ways. If you're gonna take
away the three point line, we're gonna drive to the
rack and we're going to beat you at the basket
with our superstar players who are better than yours. And
if you're gonna take away us driving to the basket,
then we're gonna disperse the ball on the perimeter and
(13:28):
make three pointers as we did all season. This is
what Joe Missoula wants to see out of the Boston Celtics.
This is what is necessary in order to win an
NBA Championship. You can't win every game the same way.
You need to be malleable. You need to have a
roster that can be flexible. You need to be able
to win in different ways. Tonight, the Boston Celtics chose
(13:52):
to take the ball to the basket. They were going
to play with aggression. That is what they did, and
that is what got them into the winners circle, not
the three point line. So to Ronaldo's point, just loved
the way that the Celtics started driving more when they
saw that the Magic weren't helping on those drives. Hey,
if the openings are there, you gotta take advantage. If
(14:14):
the creases are there, you gotta take advantage. The Celtics
did that in particular Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and
that is why the Boston Celtics are taking a three
to one lead all the way back to Boston. All right,
Next up, we've got two of a mad Man thirty
six saying Pritchard and Jalen's defensive impact didn't show on
(14:35):
the box score.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
This is how I know you were watching the game
two of a mad Man thirty six, because if you
just look at the box scorer after a game, it's
the same thing that Joe Missoula was saying about Al Horford.
Some things aren't quantified in the box score. You just
don't know exactly what happened on the court if you
didn't watch the game. If you just look at this
(14:58):
the next morning, there are going to be people who
look at the boss score tomorrow who didn't watch this
game and think, how did Peyton Pritchard finish with a
plus eleven and the plus minus category. He didn't score,
he only had one rebound, only had two assists.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
How did this happen?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
It was defense and it was providing spacing for his
teammates at the offensive end. Even though he didn't score
Jalm Brown, he did score twenty one points on the night,
nine of ten from the free throw line. Obviously, it's
great to see that of him being able to score
for the Celtics, but his defensive impact was really top
(15:40):
notch tonight.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
He grabbed two steals.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
But it's not even the numbers, it's just if you're
watching the game, you can tell that he is making
life a living hell on the player that he's defending
in for much of this game, that was Paulo Bouncaro,
and obviously Peyton Pritchard, as we talked about earlier, also
got switched down a bank Cara times and he did
a great job. So when you've got two different guys
(16:04):
who bring two different things to the table in terms
of how they approach defense and how they make an impact,
both of them doing it while one of them didn't
score at all, one of them didn't have their best
offensive night, only twenty one points for Jalen on six
of sixteen shooting from the field. Man, those guys are
just doing exactly what the Celtics need to win games.
(16:27):
Jalen Brown said it after. I don't know if it
was Game one or two, but he said, whatever it takes,
I'm going to do whatever it takes to win on
a nightly basis, not only in this series, but throughout
this entire playoff run. I will do whatever it takes.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Tonight. What was necessary from him is upping the anti defensively.
He did it.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
He answered the bell, he brought the defensive goods. He
impacted the game just enough for the Boston Celtics to
be able to come back to Boston with a nine
point win in a three to one series lead. So
great job by Jalen stepping up to the plate. Defensively,
great job by Peyton Pritchard impacting the game on a
(17:16):
night when he wasn't even able to score a single point.
Excellent job by them at the defensive end. And he
gotta think now the Celtics have a little bit of
a recipe, and let's see if that recipe winds up
coming out yet again in Tuesday nights Game five. Okay, folks,
last comment of the night. This one's coming in from
(17:38):
non Bostonian fan. I'm intrigued. I don't know why you're
a non Bostonian fan making this comment on a Celtics account,
but here we go.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
All right.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
The comment is the Champs responded and executed like what
they always do after a loss. They maintain classiness in
doing so, and as always, most important is that they
did not panic and overreact like what a lot of
spoiled Seas fans slash stands always do after a loss.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
All right, we'll get into that last part.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
In just a moment, but let's concentrate on the start
of this comment from non Bostonian fan. First, the Champs
responded and executed like they always do after a loss.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
That's true.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
The Boston Celtics are now twenty and two on the
season following a loss.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
That is ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Imagine that you lose a game and the next game
is almost an automatic victory based off of what the
trend has been the entire season. At this point, we
are eighty six games into this year. The Celtics have
lost consecutive games twice twice twenty and two after losses.
(18:55):
That's incredible, incredible mental and physical fortitude. To be able
to bounce back almost every single time you lose a
game really is saying a lot about the Boston Celtics.
So that is an NBA best number and that's something
that we should keep track on as the rest of
this postseason continues, and they maintain classiness throughout doing so
(19:17):
is what non bust Donion fans is.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
I mean there were some moments where this got a
little chippy. This series has been a little chippy. The
Celtics have not done anything dirty. They have responded to
the physicality that has been brought to the table by
the Orlando Magic. The Celtics aren't committing flagrant fouls, and
when the flagrant fils are committed against them, or they
aren't necessarily respected the way that they should be, they're
(19:44):
gonna say something, but they're not going to take it.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Over the line.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
So classiness is what the Celtics are displaying every single game,
despite the fact that you know, there have been some
moments that they might think we're not exactly classy on
the other side of the ball.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
So great job by the Celtics.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Keeping their cool and not overreacting in panicking as non
Bostonian fans here.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Now, the last comment.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Here says that a lot of spoiled Celtics fans and
stands always overreact and panic after a loss. Listen, if
you're overreacting in panicking after a Celtics loss at this point,
I don't know what to tell you. The Celtics are
twenty and two on the season after losses. That should
tell you right there that there's no need for you
(20:32):
to get concerned or overreact or panic. They're the best
in the NBA when it comes to bouncing back the
night after a loss, So keep that in mind as
the rest of this postseason unfolds. The Celtics are the
best in the business, that includes the Oklahoma City Thunder,
the best in the business when it comes to bouncing
(20:56):
back after losses. Tonight's win makes them twenty and two
on the season. So don't be spoiled, don't overreact, don't panic.
These Celtics won a championship last season. This is the
same core group. They're not gonna overreact. They're not gonna panic,
(21:19):
and neither should you. Well now after they didn't overreacting
panic and they got that win. After the loss, they're
now flying back to Boston as we speak, with a
three to one series lead, and they've got a chance
to close this out Tuesday night. Tuesday is gonna be
(21:39):
a late night, folks. I hope you don't have much
to do Wednesday morning. This game is late. It's like
finals level late. I don't know why, don't ask me,
but that's what the NBA did. The Boston Celtics and
the Orlando Magic will tip off Game five at I
don't even want to say it, eight thirty pm Tuesday night.
(22:02):
This game is not gonna end until probably after eleven
o'clock Tuesday night. So again, put your kids down, take
off work on Wednesday, do whatever you gotta do to
be able to either come to this game or support
the Celtics by watching on the broadcast. Locally, you can
catch it on NBC Sports Boston and otherwise make sure
(22:22):
you tune in to NBA TV. Thanks again for giving
me a listen. Please again reminder to subscribe share this
podcast so all of Celtics Nation can be a part
of it. I will see you Tuesday night. We're gonna
have the video version up on YouTube after that late
late tip off at eight thirty pm.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Thank you again. We'll see you Tuesday night.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Let's see at the Celtics can close this out and
move on to the next show.
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