Boston Celtics Cannot Take the Magic Lightly

The Boston Celtics cannot take a hot Orlando Magic team lightly

The Boston Celtics have surprised a lot of people with the way they have bounced back from the devastating start to the season. The Celtics are entering their game against the Orlando Magic as the hottest team in the NBA, but the Magic might be the only team that has surprised more people than the Celtics this year.

Many thought they could land deep in the lottery, with the playoffs being a long shot. Right now, they are in third place in the East, and have just one more loss than the Celtics.

It is always hard to tell how fluky things are this early on, but the Magic are a team that needs to be taken seriously until further notice.

In fact, this could end up being the most challenging game for the Celtics since the streak started. No, the Magic and not more talented than the Thunder or the Spurs, but they are playing their best basketball right now, and that has not been the case for most of Boston’s opponents.

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The Celtics have won seven straight, but it is easy to see that they have not been at their best either. They are finding ways to beat their opponents, because their defense keeps them in every game and Kyrie Irving and Al Horford are becoming one of the best closing duos in the NBA.

The Celtics are yet to run into a team that is playing hot, and if they still are not ready to be at their best, then this game will be as challenging as any other so far this season.

The one player that has been playing out of his mind on the Magic is Aaron Gordon. He is going to be a problem for any defense, and it will be interesting to see how the Celtics handle him. He has blown up a lot of games this year, and the Celtics need to make sure their defense is able to handle him.

The Celtics will quickly need to figure out who needs to guard him. Horford has handled some of the most dynamic bigs in the NBA so far this year, but Jaylen Brown is a much more physically suited matchup.

Brown has been phenomenal, but when you run into a player that is shooting just under 60 percent from three, while also being a physically imposing force on the inside, there are no guarantees.

Gordon has been an offensive juggernaut, and anyone that does not take hims seriously is paying the price this season.

The Magic have also proven that they can beat quality opponents. The seem to be making up for talent discrepancies, but they are so young that we just may not be giving their talent enough credit yet.

The Magic have defeated the Cavaliers, the Spurs and the Grizzlies this season. They are not backing down from top opponents, and even if it is not sustainable, their players are doing what is necessary to prove they can keep up with some of the best talent in the NBA.

Overall, the Magic are arguably the most surprising team in the NBA so far, and those quality wins tell the story. The problem is that they are fresh off a double digit loss to the Bulls, and if that brought them back to earth, then the Celtics should have no problem.

That is also where the risk is for the Celtics. They cannot look at that performance against the Bulls as any kind of standard for what they will be facing on Sunday night.

The Celtics need to be preparing for the team that has been as good as anyone else to start out the season, and they certainly cannot afford to slow down on defense.

If the Celtics keep up their defense they should be okay. If, however, they think this is a Magic team they can ease up on a bit, then there could be a lot of trouble. The Celtics still cannot trust their offense enough to just take over games.

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Maybe against the bottom dwellers an inconsistent and unsettled Celtics offense can win games on their own. Even if the Magic come down to earth a bit, we now know that they are not bottom dwellers, and a lack luster defensive performance against them could end the longest active winning streak in the NBA.