Magic relishing chance to go up against reigning NBA champions Boston
Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley is relishing the chance to go up against the Boston Celtics in the NBA playoffs.
The Magic overcame the Atlanta Hawks in style on Tuesday, winning the play-in game 120-95.
That teed up a first-round series against the Celtics, who are the reigning champions.
Boston won 20 more games than Orlando over the regular season, which generated a .244 difference in win percentage.
Only two teams in NBA history have won a series with a greater win percentage than the one between Orlando and the Celtics. They were the 2007 Golden State Warriors against the Dallas Mavericks (.305) and the 1994 Denver Nuggets against the Seattle Supersonics (.256).
But Mosley says his team have no reason to fear a team they beat just last week.
"It's a great opportunity to play against the best team in the league, and they're the champs still until somebody beats 'em," he said, as reported by ESPN.
"What they present is a lot of challenges, and we have to try to find a way to figure that out."
The Celtics made 6.6 more 3s per game than the Magic did this year. There were only two series in NBA history where the disparity was greater; the 2018 Houston Rockets averaged 7.3 more 3-point makes per game than the Minnesota Timberwolves and the 2006 Phoenix Suns averaged 6.7…
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The Magic have lost five straight opening-round series dating back to the 2009-10 season. They took the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games last year, but suffered a 106-94 defeat.
Cole Anthony was the star of the show on Tuesday, as he came off the bench to pour in 26 points.
"They went on their own run and we weathered the storm. We didn't let them back in the game from that point on," Anthony said.
"We got the stops, we pushed the pace and we held a really good offensive team to 90 points."
Wendell Carter Jr. (19 points), Paolo Banchero (17) and Anthony Black (16) also impressed in what was Orlando's maiden appearance in a play-in game.
Black's +34 +/- was higher than any regular-season game of his career. His +105 over the last 12 games is the highest on the team.
"It was a fun game, a big-time game, a unique type of challenge," Banchero said.
"I was interested to see how they were going to try to guard me.
"You could tell in the first quarter I was trying to get my teammates involved, moving the ball, and those guys got going. They carried us throughout the game."
The Hawks, who will take on either the Chicago Bulls or Miami Heat on Friday, were not helped by Trae Young's ejection in the fourth quarter.
Young received two technical fouls, one for throwing a hard chest pass at referee James Williams, and then a second for diverting the ball with his foot as he delayed giving the ball to referee Pat Fraher.
"Sometimes when I take my frustration out on the refs it's not just for me," Young said.
"It's for my teammates. If you see a foul, you should call a foul. That's pretty much all it was for me."