Whereas the Celtics and Magic are making ready to face the playoffs within the first spherical, there’s already a sure familiarity between the 2 groups. Jayson Tatum and Paolo Banchero, two Duke merchandise, have been shut for a number of years whereas Tatum took the younger magic star underneath his wing.
It seems that the magic coach Jamahl Mosley and the coach of the Celtics Joe Mazzulla even have a crossing path pleasant a number of occasions. Mosley had loads of complementary phrases on Mazzulla earlier than the primary spherical collection, which opens on Sunday at TD Backyard.
“Joe is a wonderful basketball spirit,” Mosley advised journalists in Orlando. “We spent slightly time in summer time. I’m simply capable of converse and have a superb dialogue throughout conferences of the coache affiliation. The Vegas mild on a number of events. Simply a wonderful basketball spirit. They talked about his teenager and win his first championship, I feel he managed it with an unimaginable amount of grace and resilience and hardness for somebody’s first time.
“He did a wonderful job with this group of commanders and to demand respect for a bunch that met and that he enters this second. So, an excellent basketball spirit, that is for certain.”
The Magic beat the Hawks within the sport event to win the seeded n ° 7 within the playoffs, which units up the confrontation with the Celtics. Boston is strongly favored as title champions, though Orlando will appear bodily all through the collection and depends on its stable protection.
Whereas the magic shocked and turned heads final season once they went 47-35, they suffered accidents all year long. Guys like Banchero and Franz Wagner have missed loads of time, amongst others, as a result of they’ve had a season from high to backside. However they performed stable basketball on the finish of the season to complete 41-41, and they’re within the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Mosley additionally mentioned that he had ready his crew to be prepared for the group of the backyard all through the collection. The Celtics themselves spoke of the environment this week in the course of the playoffs. Thus, Mosley and The Magic are making ready for a loud crowd that can absolutely have an effect.
“It is a totally different atmosphere in Boston,” mentioned Mosley. “We all know how sturdy it will likely be. We perceive how these followers are and the way they root and assist their crew. We should have the ability to undertake this, however perceive that we’re capable of do it on the street.”
