BOSTON — Game 1 couldn’t have gone much better for the Boston Celtics. The second quarter presented them with some adversity, as the Orlando Magic opened the floodgates in transition. But outside of that, Boston held them to fewer than 20 points in every other quarter.
Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner combined to score 59 of the Magic’s 86 points, and only one other player on the roster made at least three shots (Jonathan Isaac). Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had relatively rocky scoring nights, but Derrick White’s 30-ball lifted Boston to a victory. With Game 2 in the foreground, changes are inevitable for Orlando.
Adjustments are inevitable.
But perhaps that’s not relevant.
“That’s such a big word,” Joe Mazzulla said with a smile. “‘Adjustments’ you gotta make.”
Joe Mazzulla thinks the concept of 'adjustments' is overrated
The Celtics guarded Banchero and Wagner straight up, occasionally showing help, and they made simple, easy reads on offense. When the Magic pressured Tatum and Brown, White had open looks. When they guarded straight up, the Celtics got mismatches they wanted.
If the Magic want a chance at making the series competitive, going out with the same game plan as Game 1 and expecting a different result would be foolish. That’s the definition of insanity.
Yet the Celtics aren’t too worried about what they may change.
They are certainly keeping themselves ready. “That's just in your preparation,” said newly-crowned Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard. “You're ready for anything that's thrown at you. So, obviously, we've been through a lot of series, we understand that adjustments will be made, and we'll be prepared for them.”
But adjustments are far from the first thing on their minds.
“Nah, we just have to continue to do what we do and be ready for it,” said Al Horford, shaking off the concept of preparing for Orlando’s adjustments. “We have the task at hand to protect our home tomorrow, and that's the mindset. But beyond that, there's not much. We can't get caught up in the what-ifs.”
Orlando has played a certain brand of basketball all year. So has Boston. When it comes time for tip-off, that’s where each team lays their head—in the work they’ve done all season to establish their respective identities.
So, while adjustments certainly occur, they’re more of a granular, possession-to-possession process than an overarching shift that can be made.
“I think at the end of the day, you're adjusting every single possession,” said Mazzulla. “It's a game of reads. The game is different. I mean, both teams are changing matchups constantly. Changing different lineups. I mean, I think by the end of the game, each team has gone through multiple adjustments. And so, I know it's a trigger word, but both teams are doing that almost every possession throughout the game, and every game is different.
“I mean, last game, we did some really good things which allowed us to maintain our show, but this team's physical, they're talented. I think we can't maintain our show, you have to go to some different stuff.
The word ‘adjustments’ may simply be the wrong term. Every team has its own set of principles that they live and die by on a game-to-game basis. Abandoning those would go against everything they’ve done all season long.
That won’t happen.
“It's really just having the process of the non-negotiables heading into a game,” Mazzulla said. “And then, knowing that each game takes on a life of its own, and you got to be ready to go with whatever makes the most sense at that particular moment, depending upon how the margins and the things that impact winning kind of impact it.”