Boston Celtics flex unpredictable advantage in Game 1 win over Magic (2025)

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown admitted he needed to ease himself back into the playoffs due to his knee injury. Jayson Tatum endured an off shooting night and an injury scare. But no matter. The Celtics don’t always need to rely on their All-Star duo to produce — and that’s exactly what happened in their blowout Game 1 win over the Magic on Sunday at TD Garden.

The C’s flexed their greatest strength — their deep, talented and unpredictable roster — to cruise to a 1-0 series in the first-round series against the Magic. Derrick White scored 30 points, shooting 10-for-18 from the field, while Jrue Holiday turned up his intensity in the third quarter. And can’t forget the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner, Payton Pritchard, putting up 19 points off the bench in a flash.

“It just means we got a million different ways we can win,” White said. “A lot of different things we could throw at teams and just a lot of faith and trust in every person that checks in the game. We got a lot of different weapons, a lot of different people that do a lot of different things. So whatever the game calls for, we can make that adjustment.”

The Celtics threw plenty of different looks at the Magic all night, frustrating the young squad. C’s coach Joe Mazzulla warned not to look closely at the minutes distribution because they’re using the might of their entire roster now that it’s the playoffs. That kept the Magic off-balance as the visitors mustered up just 37 points in the second half.

It’s why that unpredictability also makes the C’s so dangerous — they can mix their lineups based off matchups. And they can always rely on someone stepping up. While the Magic impressed by scoring 31 points in the second quarter, they couldn’t generate consistent offense afterwards. The Celtics said the Magic were the aggressors in the first half, so they upped their own intensity down the stretch.

“We turned it up,” Holiday said. “I think that first half they turned it up too, got a lot more aggressive, and then just coming out in that second half we wanted to show that we could withstand whatever punch they had. So we turned up the defense. I think we got out a lot in transition and got some easy buckets and that kind of prepared our offense.”

White joked it’d be great if he could consistently be that guy scoring 30 points every game. But just like Mazzulla often points out, White said every game is different and that’s why they can’t expect things to go a certain way. So come Game 2 of the series, set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Garden, it could be White, Brown, Tatum, Holiday or anyone else who has the big scoring night to boost the Celtics.

That’s all part of the equation for the defending champs. The Magic postgame spoke about how they didn’t expect White and Pritchard to go off like they did Sunday. Come Wednesday, they could be talking about different guys stepping up. And that layer adds a unique flavor for the reigning champs as they eye back-to-back titles.

“It comes from the guys just having an understanding that everyone is a weapon, everyone has a chance to impact the game,” Mazzulla said. “I think Jaylen and Jayson lead in so many different ways, and one of the ways is empowering everybody around him. I think Derrick had 10 points off screens from Jaylen and Jayson there, and that’s kind of what it’s about.”