2023-2024 Regular Season Game 24: Orlando Magic (16-7) at Boston Celtics (18-5) - 7:30pm

[Bergmaniac]

It's wild to me that so much of this thread is about how different the game would have been if we had Fultz for this one when clearly this game was lost mostly on the defensive end. Boston had a 129.3 offensive rating and frankly it felt they could have scored more if they needed it, we played awful D most of the game and I really doubt Fultz would have helped on that end. Even when Isaac was in we were getting killed, which is the first time this has happened all season. Yes, some of this was due to turnovers but we were quite bad in the halfcourt too and Fultz isn't paticularly good at turnover economy. Our problems offensively were mostly because Boston were packing the paint and daring us to shoot 3s and this is really not something Fultz can help with.

And at the end of the day, Boston is a really good team even without Porzingis and Horford and we were too cocky. Also, there was some reversal to the mean here, in many of the games in the last two seasons we got lucky with Boston shooting way below their usual percentage on good looks from 3 (especially in some of the games last season), now it was time for them to get hot, it happens.

[SOUL]

It's really a simple answer - rookies don't affect the game much on a consistent enough level, besides maybe JJJ who was a 4 year senior. Black and Goga might enable Paolo and Franz more but Black is still a rookie. Reason why even despite Hawkins and Keyonte putting up numbers, their teams will (and have) play better with them getting less minutes.

People are acting like we have to commit to Fultz past this season or that he's some miracle for our starting lineup, not close - but missing 30 ppg from him and WCJ hurts when it comes to consistent play. Our bench is what has been great over the course of the last few weeks, starting lineup has been pretty average. And we can't claim Franz and Paolo necessarily play better because Franz is shooting like ass and Paolo, while much improved, is turning the ball over like crazy lately. We saw similar trends last year when all of our guards were hurt.

Why is this such an all or nothing argument? For short term success, having healthy bodies from starters that played good last year is not a crazy statement to make. It doesn't mean they are "the answer" or "the future" or "untouchable".

With that being said, no matter who was playing today, you can't win with Franz and Paolo shooting it that badly and turning it over like that and our defense being so porous.

[eyriq]

Looking at the box score and it's clear that Boston's role players and bench just really stepped up and killed us offensively. Really good look for them to step up with so many guys out.

[eyriq]

Those two missed Franz 3's during the first stint that were wide open hurt

[Skybox]

It's really a simple answer - rookies don't affect the game much on a consistent enough level, besides maybe JJJ who was a 4 year senior. Black and Goga might enable Paolo and Franz more but Black is still a rookie. Reason why even despite Hawkins and Keyonte putting up numbers, their teams will (and have) play better with them getting less minutes.

People are acting like we have to commit to Fultz past this season or that he's some miracle for our starting lineup, not close - but missing 30 ppg from him and WCJ hurts when it comes to consistent play. Our bench is what has been great over the course of the last few weeks, starting lineup has been pretty average. And we can't claim Franz and Paolo necessarily play better because Franz is shooting like ass and Paolo, while much improved, is turning the ball over like crazy lately. We saw similar trends last year when all of our guards were hurt.

Why is this such an all or nothing argument? For short term success, having healthy bodies from starters that played good last year is not a crazy statement to make. It doesn't mean they are "the answer" or "the future" or "untouchable".

With that being said, no matter who was playing today, you can't win with Franz and Paolo shooting it that badly and turning it over like that and our defense being so porous.

I think it's pretty reasonable to question "HOW was BOS able to CAUSE Franz & Paolo's misadventures?" as well. I don't think Franz and Paolo running through DET's defense like they aren't even there vs last night's performance wasn't just F&P having off nights.

Goga tipped in misses and kept plays alive in ways that WCJ doesn't really do as well. Having Fultz standing on the perimeter hoping noone passes it back to him for an open 3 wouldn't have opened things up either. WCJ might have hoisted a few that Goga wouldn't, but I don't think that would have as big an effect as Goga's disruptive effect on the offensive boards.

BOS is just really good. ORL is getting there, and can see the blueprint in Celtic Green, but is still lacking offensive variety on a nightly basis. ORL's defense is playoff-ready, but it's very hard to maintain that intensity when you can't take advantage on the other end.

Jaylen Brown looked worth every bit of that absurd contract last night...on both ends. Just a senior picking on freshmen.

[Bergmaniac]

One of the problems last night not mentioned much in this thread was that Boston made Ingles unplayable in Mosley's mind by targeting him on D and he didn't play after the first quarter which affected our offense. Or maybe Ingles wasn't feeling 100% and Mosley decided not to risk him after the first quarter. Whatever the reason he probably would have helped significantly in keeping the turnovers down and being more organised on offense and the bench defence was just as bad when he didn't play, hopefully he'll be ready for the next game, we need him.

[basketballRob]

Both Ingles and Paolo had ankle sprains, and they may have affected them some.

We over helped too much on defense. We couldn't deal with the PG setting a pick on Tatum's man guarding him. We ended up with Cole guarding Tatum several times. I think AB and Suggs need to match minutes with Tatum. Cole and Harris only need to play when he's on the bench.

Our defense isn't good when we have to help. AB and Suggs can at least make it hard on Tatum.

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[pepe1991]

We kept leaving Pritchard wide open for 3, we can't do that, need to play better defense than that.dude is automatic when left open.

Black needs to be more of a threat on offense when he has all these smaller guys guarding him.

It's such a bs superstar call when Tatum steps on Goga's foot, falls over and Goga is called for a foul. Refs need to cut down on that kind of stuff. Harden,Trae Young and other superstars are known for doing this crap because they have a big load to carry every night and they look to exploit a bs gimmick like because it will make it easier for them. But they are still not legitimate basketball plays.

To be fair, Paolo got away with 12 steps layup in this game.

What team are you rooting for bro? Tired of your negative bs.

Negative?
You can't complain about officiating if mistakes are done on both ends. In reality, nba always had double standards for stars and rest of a league. Things stars can get away with are outrageous. Every game has "eurostep" that is clear violation, instad of calling it, they show it at highlights

[drsd]

Box score thoughts:

Yes, Orlando lost the FG% battle and lost the game.

That: and the Magic turned the ball over 11 times more than Boston. Yuck.

Looking at the box score and it's clear that Boston's role players and bench just really stepped up and killed us offensively. Really good look for them to step up with so many guys out.

When Bitadze is Orlando's best player, not a lot of win-potential.

One thing that really sucked was how poor Orlando was at drawing fouls.

[Residual-Heat]

Only watched parts of the game last night, but it was not a good performance by their standards. Cant leave shooters that wide open and we cant commit stupid turnovers. Just a lot of dumb mistakes and lack of effort during this game. Franz needs to start making threes, and Paolo needs to stop turning the ball over and start making shots. They need to bounce back and be focused next game. The Celtics are a great team but no excuses for the performance last night.

[Knightro]

Anthony Black's best career game per the Basketball Reference "game score" metric.

[eyriq]

Anthony Black's best career game per the Basketball Reference "game score" metric.

Get this kid the game ball!