Jamahl Mosley and Paolo Banchero both knew the stakes.
When Banchero was called for his fifth foul just three minutes into the second half of the Orlando Magic’s Game 5 first-round playoff matchup with the Boston Celtics, it meant Mosley would have to send his star player to the bench for an extended period during a crucial stretch, or keep him on the floor and risk him fouling out of an elimination game.
So, Banchero and Mosley both shared choice words for referee Tony Brothers, while Mosley disgustedly signaled for a challenge to try to get the call overturned. But Banchero’s foul on Jaylen Brown stood, and what happened next was inevitable.
The Celtics ripped off a 30-9 run with Banchero on the bench, turning a 53-53 tie into a 21-point lead and transforming a close game into a series-ending, 120-89 blowout.
Mosley didn’t mince words when asked about Banchero’s fifth foul, in which Banchero got into Brown’s airspace and took an inadvertent elbow to the face as Brown went up for a layup.
“It definitely swung the series. It definitely swung the game. I have no idea what the explanation was,” Mosley told reporters. “He came into his path. All I saw is Paolo getting an elbow to the face or back into the face – and he got the foul.
“That was a game-changer right there. Your best player picks up his fifth foul in the third quarter. It’s tough to come back from that moment, but our guys continued to fight.”
Mosley is right, of course. It’s tough to come back from losing your star player — especially when he’s your entire offense.
Banchero averaged 29.4 points per game over the five-game series, accounting for nearly one-third (31.4 percent) of Orlando’s total points. Banchero (147 total points) and sidekick Franz Wagner (129 points) scored 276 of the Magic’s 468 points over five games, generating nearly 60 percent of their offense.
No other Orlando player scored more than 51 total points in the series.
Banchero is the engine that drives the Magic offense. But he and Wagner are essentially the entire car, as Orlando’s supporting cast was essentially non-existent in this series. Magic players not named Banchero or Wagner shot just 39.9 percent collectively in the series and a putrid 23.9 percent from 3-point range (22 for 92).
The Celtics have their own star duo in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who also did a bulk of Boston’s scoring in this series (31.3 points per game for Tatum; 23 per game for Brown). But they have the luxury of a much deeper supporting cast, from Derrick White (30 points in Game 1; 17.2 points per game in the series), to Kristaps Porzingis (20 points in Game 2; 19 points in Game 4), to Jrue Holiday (20 points and 11 assists combined in Games 1 and 2), to Payton Pritchard (33 combined points in Games 1 and 2).
And that’s not to mention Al Horford’s five blocks in Game 4 or Sam Hauser’s 10 points off the bench in Game 5.
Depth was a difference-maker for the Celtics during their 2024 championship run, and it helped them overcome a feisty Magic team in the first round. The path gets more challenging going forward — the C’s await the winner of the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons in the second round — but the more contributions they can get outside Tatum and Brown, the better chances they’ll have at repeating.
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