ORLANDO – Cole Anthony has a hint of what to expect Sunday at TD Garden. Visiting his sister at Harvard last June, the Orlando Magic guard decided to attend Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Mavericks and was blown away by the atmosphere.
“I got to really see the environment firsthand,” he said. “That is probably the craziest environment in a game I’ve seen. I can’t wait to get out there. I can’t wait to play. I’m just excited for this team. It’s a great opportunity ahead of us.”
hony was the catalyst as the Magic cinched the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 120-95 win over the Hawks in a play-in game Tuesday night at Kia Center. With the victory,Orlando drew a first-round series with the second-seeded and defending champion Celtics beginning Sunday in Boston. It’s a series the Magic are relishing.
There was definitely a level of excitement for a team that’s been wildly inconsistent this season. Anthony, the former first-round pick who spent the last three weeks of March out of Orlando’s rotation, returned to become a sparkplug for a team desperately in need of scoring.
He had 26 points in 20 minutes as the Magic pulled away in the fourth quarter, celebrating their victory heartily as their fans chanted “We Want Boston!” in the final minutes.
The defensive-mindedMagic realize what they’re getting in the Celtics, an offensive juggernaut that averages 48 3-point attempts per game.
The Magic have had regular-season success against the Celtics in recent years, winning 10 of their past 13 games playing the same ugly style of basketball they did Tuesday. They were just 11 for 39 from the 3-point line but they battered the Hawks on the boards and loaded up on second-chance points.
“We want to limit their threes, that’s going to be the main thing,” Anthony said. “But they obviously have several dudes on that team who are capable, but so do we. They’ve won a championship already. They’ve done what we want to do and I think for us we’re all super excited going into the series.
“It’s going to be a good one. I can’t wait to get out there.”
Some of the issues that have plagued the Magic this season haunted them in the second half when the Hawks whittled a 21-point deficit to 3 in the third quarter. Orlando finished the regular season 28th in scoring, 27th in field goal percentage and 30th in 3-point percentage.
When leading scorers Franz Wagner or Paolo Banchero hit the bench, the offense suffers. Banchero, the former No. 1 overall pick, is a rising star but not yet able to play distributor and scorer like Jayson Tatum.
He struggled from the field and scored 9 of his 17 points from the free throw line. The Celtics are likely going to dare Banchero and Wagner to shoot from the perimeter and for good reason. The duo was a combined 0 for 8 from the 3-point line in the play-in win vs. the Hawks.
Still, the Magic have enough size and physicality to make the series interesting if the Celtics allow Banchero to live at the free throw line. He has leaned on Tatum for advice over the years, and is looking forward to facing his Duke mentor.
“I’ve known Jayson since I was going into college and I see him every summer, so he’s a guy I’m very familiar with and one of the guys I go to for advice,” Banchero said. “But, obviously, now we’re competing. I think the best way for me to show my respect is to give him my best effort and go at him as much as I can. So I’m excited for the matchup. And I’m just excited to be in the playoffs in general.
“We give ourselves a chance to go into Boston and make some noise, I’m just happy about that.”
While there was relief and even jubilation about the victory over the Hawks and avoiding the win-or-go-home elimination game Friday, the Magic fully understood the challenge before them. The Celtics won the lone matchup in Boston this season by 27 points, and the Magic were 5 for 32 from the 3-point line.
They’ll need to be much better offensively to present a challenge.
“That’s a team we play four times a year and we’re familiar with their style,” Banchero said. “They have a ton of shooters, all throughout the lineup. So we know that’s going to have to be a point of emphasis, running them off the line but also we’ve got to be at the rim, too. They have guys who can drive and make plays. The threes are what kill you and they take a lot of them and that’s what we’re going to be focused on.”
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.
