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Southeast Notes: Jaquez, Hawks, Murray, Hunter, Joseph

May 8th, 2025 at 10:14pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Heat second-year wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. had a strong rookie season, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting, but he followed up that successful campaign with a quieter year. He finished the year averaging 8.6 points (down from 11.9 last season) and was out of the rotation at times.

“It was an extremely humbling experience,” Jaquez said during his exit interview, per Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel. “Sometimes things don’t go your way, and sometimes only after do you realize why that had happened to you.”

Jaquez’s efficiency took a slight hit in his second season, and he wound up playing fewer minutes game to game.

“Clearly has to work on some things, which he will,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’ll work on defending in open space, defending situationally in our system, outside shooting will be key again, but he was working on that last summer. I think a full summer again, I think you’ll see big progress. He was coming out of training camp shooting the ball great. So I think we can fast track that.

“And, then, ultimately the hardest one is decision making. Schemes have changed against him. He has to be aggressive, but now there’s going to be different schemes and you graduate to different levels to this. And when there’s a second defender, making the right read and finding open guys, when he’s in a crowd.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

The Hawks are already seeing the rewards of the deal that sent Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans, Lauren L. Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Dyson Daniels was the prime acquisition from that move, and he came away with the NBA’s Most Improved Player award after establishing himself as one of the league’s premier defenders. In addition to gaining a franchise staple, they added a veteran leader in Larry Nance Jr. in that same trade and two first-round picks.
Atlanta sending De’Andre Hunter to the Cavaliers at the deadline also looks like a win-win, Williams writes in another piece. Although he’s dealing with an injury now, he quickly established himself as a crucial bench piece for Cleveland while the Hawks obtained cap flexibility by acquiring an expiring contract in Caris LeVert while avoiding paying Hunter the $48.2MM in guaranteed money he’s due over the next three years.
Cory Joseph said during his exit interview that this past season with Orlando was his favorite in his career, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel writes. The 33-year-old played the mentor role but ended up becoming the Magic‘s starting point guard by the end of the year after the team dealt with injuries. “Being able to come here and feel like it was a perfect fit for me, in terms of where the team was and where I was … I really enjoyed my time this season being here,” Joseph said. The Magic have a team option on his deal worth $3.4MM. He expressed interest in returning to Orlando for his 15th season, per Beede.

Magic Notes: KCP, F. Wagner, Suggs, Carter

May 8th, 2025 at 12:16pm CST by Rory Maher

After converting 40.3% of his three-point attempts from 2019-24, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope struggled with his shot in his first season with the Magic, making just 34.2% of his outside looks — the third-lowest mark of his career.

Caldwell-Pope, who signed a three-year, $66MM contract with the Magic last offseason, conceded his shooting wasn’t up to par in 2024/25, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel.

“Not as I expected for my performance,” Caldwell-Pope said. “I finished a little solid, but shooting-wise that could be a lot better. That goes into a lot. I thought my season was pretty good despite everything we’ve been through.”

As Beede notes, injuries to Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, among others, made it difficult for Caldwell-Pope to consistently find the types of looks he likes, particularly since he was playing with new teammates. The veteran shooting guard won’t have to worry about free agency this summer, so he plans to spend more time in the gym honing his craft.

“I felt like I was a little bit more stagnant this year as far as not moving to get open or find open windows to be able to get those shots,” he said. “For me, just this summer, getting more attempts at the rim and being able to just shoot all summer.”

Here’s more on the Magic:

Despite tearing a right abdominal muscle, which cost him 20 games, Franz Wagner posted career-best counting stats in ’24/25 and likely would have been an All-Star for the first time had he not been injured, Beede writes for The Orlando Sentinel. “I was put into a little bit of a new spot when Paolo went out and looking back on it, I handled it pretty well,” Wagner said. “I was pleased with how I was playing then. For me, the injury was at a terrible time because I felt like we were rolling as a team. But that’s how it goes sometimes. I handled it well — the injury and the rehab stuff. I played a decent second half of season, got better at a couple of things and also saw a couple of things I need to improve on.”
Suggs, who has dealt with numerous injuries over the course of his four NBA seasons, was limited to a career-low 35 games in ’24/25 due to back, quad and knee injuries. He recently discussed a number of topics at his end-of-season media availability, including his approach to the game and how his rehab is going, as Beede relays.
Like many members of the Magic, big man Wendell Carter struggled with his long-range shot this season. After making 35.1% of his threes over the previous three seasons, he made just 23.4% in ’24/25. He said rediscovering his outside touch will be a high priority this offseason (story via Beede). “Become that knockdown shooter I was a year or two ago, and be in the best shape of my life,” Carter said of his plans for the summer. “There’s a lot of goals I have for myself going into this next season … [including] being able to play as many games as possible, but also being at the top of my game.”

Rockets Notes: Offseason, Durant, VanVleet, Whitmore, Sheppard

May 6th, 2025 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Even after winning 52 games and claiming the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, the Rockets didn’t see themselves as a legitimate championship contender this spring, says Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

The Rockets, making their first playoff appearance since 2020, knew the top-seeded Thunder were much further along in their title chase, according to Fischer, who writes that Houston’s goal this season was similar to Oklahoma City’s in the last year or two — evaluating a roster heavy on recent lottery picks to collect data and get a better sense of which players are long-term keepers and which ones might not be.

With their postseason run over, the Rockets will now have to weigh whether or not to pursue a major move on the trade market this summer, Fischer writes, noting that the team is expected to bring back most of its core and “proceed judiciously” going forward. General manager Rafael Stone didn’t contradict Fischer’s reporting when he spoke to the media on Tuesday.

“The business we’re in, nobody’s untouchable,” Stone said (Twitter link via Kelly Iko of The Athletic). “But we deeply value everyone on our roster. We have those (extra draft) picks, we accumulated them so we could draft guys or upgrade our current roster. We’ll see what makes the most sense.”

As Fischer details, pundits figure to repeatedly link Suns forward Kevin Durant to Houston this summer for a number of reasons — the Rockets control several Phoenix draft assets; Durant played college ball at Texas and played in Oklahoma City alongside close friend and Rockets assistant Royal Ivey; and Rockets head coach Ime Udoka was an assistant during KD’s time in Brooklyn. However, Fischer insists that “more indications than not” suggests Houston’s interest in Durant has been overstated.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

After Fred VanVleet and Udoka expressed a desire to keep the point guard in Houston going forward, Stone declined to comment on any contract specifics on Tuesday, but confirmed that the Rockets want to retain VanVleet. “He’s been the person and player that we hoped we were getting and we’re very optimistic he’ll be with us for the foreseeable future,” Stone said, per Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
In a story for The Houston Chronicle (subscription required), Lerner poses five burning questions facing the Rockets this offseason, starting with whether or not they keep VanVleet and whether they’ll pursue a star. Lerner also considers whether Houston will extend Tari Eason and Jabari Smith, which of their own free agents they’ll try to re-sign, and how much this year’s draft matters to the team.
The Magic and Rockets share many of the same strengths and weaknesses, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who suggests that both teams will be in the market for offensive upgrades this offseason. However, there appears to be one key difference between the two clubs, as Hollinger observes — Orlando needs to strengthen its supporting cast around star forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, while Houston still needs to find an alpha dog, either inside or outside of the organization.
Within his analysis of the Rockets’ future, Hollinger points out that the team may soon need to make decisions on whether a pair of little-used rotation players are keepers. Former first-round pick Cam Whitmore has shown flashes of real promise, but hasn’t played consistently, while last year’s No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard spent most of his rookie season on the bench even though the organization reportedly thinks very highly of him. “We have had in-depth conversations with Cam probably more than anybody,” Udoka said on Tuesday (Twitter link via Lerner). “… Ton of potential there, but consistency is the main thing and he knows that.”

Magic’s Banchero Discusses ‘Challenging’ Season, Potential Extension, More

May 6th, 2025 at 9:33am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to Marc J. Spears of ESPN as part of a diary series for Andscape, Magic forward Paolo Banchero described the 2024/25 campaign as “more challenging than any other season I can remember in my life.” In addition to missing more than two months due to a torn oblique, Banchero saw his team take a step backward in the standings — Orlando finished with a 41-41 record after winning 47 games a year earlier.

“There was the injury and then coming back and playing myself back in shape. All the while, I’m still trying to compete with my team and win games,” Banchero said. “We were going through a rough month, losing a lot of games, dropping in the standings. And then you are coming back during the All-Star break, finding a little bit of a rhythm, winning some games, clinching the postseason (spot) and going up against the defending champ in the playoffs.”

According to Banchero, the season served as something of a “wake-up call” for him and his Magic teammates, who were plagued by health issues and didn’t take the step forward they hoped to after breaking through and making the playoffs in 2024 for the first time in four years.

“That’s just what I’ve learned over my first three years in this league: you can’t take any years in this league for granted,” Banchero said. “Every season is a new race. You have to approach it as such. You can’t just expect to have success or expect to be somewhere without actually putting the work in. Also, having luck; some of that is luck as well the way the cards are dealt.”

Here are a few more highlights from Banchero’s final diary entry of the year for Andscape:

On learning to be mindful of how his body is feeling:

“Getting hurt so early in the season — I had just come off a 50-point game, fourth game of the year — I was feeling in tip-top shape physically and I just felt like nothing could stop me or harm me. The game I did get hurt, I felt myself being really fatigued. And instead of asking for a sub or saying I need one, I kept it all in and said, ‘I’m good. I’m going to be fine.’ I ended up getting hurt in what would be a season-altering injury for me. So, I learned to listen to your body. Don’t overwork or over push yourself trying to be Superman in the first month of the season. It’s not worth it. Obviously, be smarter about that.”

On not being satisfied with new career highs in points (25.9) and rebounds (7.5) per game:

“Statistically, this is my best season, but to me, it doesn’t feel that way. … I really did come into this season expecting to dominate the whole season into the playoffs, accomplish all my goals. So, when that doesn’t happen, it leaves a lot to be desired and makes you even more hungry. I’m not going into the offseason like, ‘I just had a career year. I’m good.’ Stop. I feel like food was taken off my plate, in a sense. I feel like something was stolen from me. Not saying no one stole anything from me, but that’s just how I feel. … I’m just looking forward to bouncing back.”

On the possibility of signing a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension worth a projected $247MM this offseason:

“I don’t know, man. I was in over my head when I signed my rookie (contract). So, I really haven’t thought much about that. … But it’s a blessing and hopefully all that stuff works out if I’m able to sign with the team and lock in my future. That’s every young player’s goal coming into this league, establishing yourself early, get a second contract. So, when (the) time comes, I’m sure all that stuff we can figure out. I don’t know. They say more money, more problems. So, we’ll see what happens.”

On potential roster upgrades for the Magic:

“We have a good feel of what our weaknesses are and what we need to work on. We just have to address some of those things. I’m looking forward to it, what changes are made. If there aren’t any changes, then there aren’t any changes, but if there are then I’m going to be ready to get to work and embrace it with open arms. … I’ve never really been a big recruiter, I’m not going to lie, but hey, if you’re interested, I can sell you. I have to play that by ear and just wait and see.”

Magic Could Target Anfernee Simons In Trade

May 4th, 2025 at 8:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Could Anfernee Simons solve the Magic‘s offensive issues? According to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, the Trail Blazers guard has been increasingly projected around the league as a potential target for Orlando.

President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman indicated in a postseason press conference that upgrades this offseason would likely come via trades.

“Most of our roster upgrades are going to have to come more through swapping than just adding,” Weltman said. “The reason we’ve been a good team the last couple of years — and I do believe we are a good team — is because we’ve got an elite defensive backbone. And as as we look to improve our offense, we have to be very cognizant of not unraveling the DNA of our team. That’s what we have to balance this summer.”

Orlando had the league’s worst three-point percentage and Weltman vowed to address that problem, as well as others.

“What we need is proven shot-making, proven offensive play, someone that’s going to come in and help augment our weakness,” Weltman said. “Clearly, we need to get better offensively. Clearly, we need to shoot the ball better. Those are the goals and that’s the lens we need to look at as we enter the offseason. I don’t think anything’s off the table. Veteran help, proven offensive help is what we’re going to be looking for.”

Simons made 70 starts for the Trail Blazers this season, averaging 19.3 points and 4.8 assists per game. He shot 42.6% overall and 36.3% from beyond the three-point arc. Simons is entering his walk year and will make $27.7MM next season.

Simons was believed to be one of the players the Blazers were willing to move prior to this season’s trade deadline. However, general manager Joe Cronin didn’t find a suitable offer.

Orlando seemingly made a major upgrade on the wing last offseason by signing free agent guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The former Nugget had a disappointing season with the Magic, averaging 8.7 points in 29.6 minutes per game while making 77 starts. His three-point percentage was a subpar 34.2%, his worst since the 2015/16 season. KCP made over 40% of his long-range attempts in his previous two seasons with Denver.

Losing Jalen Suggs after he played just 35 games was a major blow. Suggs averaged 16.2 points per game before he underwent season-ending surgery but Weltman’s comments indicated that Suggs’ return alone won’t put Orlando over the hump.

Magic Notes: Offseason Plan, Banchero, F. Wagner, Bitadze

May 3rd, 2025 at 9:34am CST by Rory Maher

After finishing with a losing record for four straight seasons, the Magic went 47-35 and made the playoffs a year ago, eventually losing a tight seven-game series against Cleveland.

Entering 2024/25, Orlando added veteran wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency, but long-term injuries to key players — including Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Moritz Wagner and Jalen Suggs — played a significant role in the team’s middling 41-41 record. The Magic advanced as the No. 7 seed via the play-in tournament, but once again lost in the first round, this time in five games to the defending champion Celtics.

As Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel writes, the Magic finished with the second-best defensive rating in the NBA during the regular season, but had the fourth-worst offense, including the worst three-point percentage. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman says Orlando is ready to transition to a “win-now” phase entering ’25/26.

“What we need is proven shot-making, proven offensive play, someone that’s going to come in and help augment our weakness,” Weltman said. “Clearly, we need to get better offensively. Clearly, we need to shoot the ball better. Those are the goals and that’s the lens we need to look at as we enter the offseason.

“I don’t think anything’s off the table. Veteran help, proven offensive help is what we’re going to be looking for.”

Most of the Magic’s roster is under contract for next season, Beede observes, and the team won’t have the cap room necessary to be a major player in what’s viewed as a relatively weak free-agent class. That means the front office will have to make trades to add the types of players it’s looking for, which Weltman acknowledged.

“Most of our roster upgrades are going to have to come more through swapping than just adding,” Weltman said. “The reason we’ve been a good team the last couple of years — and I do believe we are a good team — is because we’ve got an elite defensive backbone.

“And as we look to improve our offense, we have to be very cognizant of not unraveling the DNA of our team. That’s what we have to balance this summer.”

Here’s more on the Magic:

In addition to his end-of-season media session, Weltman also discussed the Magic’s season, the inactive trade deadline, and the team’s offseason plan on Mike Bianchi’s “Open Mike” radio show.
Following the first-round elimination, Banchero reflected on how his season played out, according to Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “Kind of how I evaluated the team’s season, it was a little disappointing for me and my season,” Banchero said. “Just going down with the injury and then coming back and having to work my way into shape and battle through those times. But I was happy with how I was able to kind of respond and finish strong. I didn’t let some of those early tough times discourage me. I kept going and, like the team, I wanted to finish strong, and do whatever I could to help us get to the postseason. We were able to do that.”
Banchero, a former No. 1 overall pick and All-Star, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer. He made it clear he’s ready to sign a long-term deal with Orlando, Beede adds in the same story. “I love it here,” Banchero said about Orlando. “… It’s a place that I love spending time, my family loves spending time here, and I couldn’t be more happy to be a part of the Orlando Magic. I look forward to spending a lot more years here.”
While Franz Wagner isn’t sure whether or not he’ll suit up for Germany at this summer’s EuroBasket, center Goga Bitadze says he’s definitely going to represent his home country of Georgia at the tournament, per Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. “I take that very seriously,” Bitadze said. “I’m going to prepare for that and got to stay in shape all summer. Hopefully, we win a lot of games with the national team.”

Southeast Notes: Herro, Burks, Hawks, Suggs

May 1st, 2025 at 3:59pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat guard Tyler Herro had an impressive regular season, making his first All-Star appearance and winning the three-point contest. He posted career highs in several statistical categories, including points (23.9) and assists (5.5) per game, while making a career-best 77 appearances. The 25-year-old also struggled in the final two games of Miami’s first-round series with Cleveland, though the Heat were clearly overmatched against the top-seeded Cavs.

Herro, who is under contract through 2026/27, will be eligible for a three-year extension in October. Asked about the possibility of signing that extension, Herro made it clear that he wants to stay with the Heat, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

“Not the biggest deal, but I would love to be here,” Herro said. “The front office, the organization, the city, everyone knows how much I love Miami. I’ve been here since I was 18, 19. I’ve got two kids here.

“This is really home for me. I love being here. Basketball is why I’m here at the end of the day. I want to win and I know how badly this organization and city want to win. We will see what happens. If it doesn’t get done in October, then we can get it done next summer. It will just be a little bit higher of a price.”

Here’s more from the Southeast:

While a few Heat veterans declined to speak to the media, guard Alec Burks would like to return to Miami, according to Jackson. “Hopefully I can come back,” said Burks, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after signing a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum in 2024.
In a subscriber-only story for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Lauren Williams takes a look at which Hawks players are likely to return in ’25/26 and which players could be on different rosters next season. Unsurprisingly, young core players like Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher fall into the former group, while impending free agents such as Caris LeVert and Clint Capela are in the latter.
At his end-of-season media availability on Thursday, Magic guard Jalen Suggs said undergoing season-ending knee surgery won’t change the physical way he defends opponents heading into ’25/26. “I ain’t changing a damn thing,” Suggs told Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link). “I ain’t going to lie. I ain’t changing nothing. That’s what all this (rehab) work is for.” Suggs, who made the All-Defensive Second Team last season, was limited to 35 games in ’24/25 due to injuries.

Magic Notes: Injury-Filled Season, Banchero, Finances, Houstan

April 30th, 2025 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic didn’t advance any further than last year — losing in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season — but coach Jamahl Mosley believes they deserve credit for overcoming adversity, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. The team survived a season-long string of injuries that resulted in just six games together for Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, but still managed to win 41 games and advance through the play-in tournament.

The injury bug started when Banchero suffered a torn right oblique muscle five games into the season. The same injury hit Wagner about five weeks later, and Suggs underwent season-ending knee surgery in early March. Backup big man Moritz Wagner was lost for the season with a torn ACL in December.

“I’m extremely proud of the way that they competed and represented the Orlando Magic all year,” Mosley said after his team was eliminated Tuesday night in Boston. “You can go down the list for the things that have happened to this group and every reason to understand that we could have felt sorry for ourselves, and we never did. Everybody found a way and that’s who this group has continued to be and will continue to be moving forward no matter the circumstances, no matter the adversity [and] no matter what you’re hit with in a season. You find ways to step up and into the moment that you’re called upon.”

Beede notes that roster changes will likely be coming in an effort to produce a more efficient offense. The Magic hold team options on Moritz Wagner, Cory Joseph, Gary Harris and Caleb Houstan, and they have eight first-round picks and 12 second-rounders over the next seven years that can be used as trade chips.

There’s more from Orlando:

There were some positives for the Magic despite the loss, Beede adds in a separate story. The defense caused problems for the Celtics throughout the series, and Banchero proved that he’s capable of carrying the scoring load in the playoffs. He averaged 29.4 PPG while playing nearly 40 minutes per night. “When I train in the offseason and when I’m getting ready for the season, I have this time of the year in my mind,” Banchero said. “Playoff basketball is the best part of the season, so just having that time of the year in the back of your mind while you’re training, realizing that [the] season doesn’t end in April. You’ve got to plan for it ending in June.”
The front office will have to be aggressive this offseason because the current roster is about to get a lot more expensive, notes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Rookie scale extensions for Franz Wagner and Suggs will take effect next season, while Banchero will almost certainly get a max extension this summer that will start in 2026/27.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks looks ahead to the Magic’s offseason in an Insider-only story. He notes that Houstan played nearly 17 minutes per game after the All-Star break and may have a future in Orlando. The team could make him a restricted free agent this offseason by declining his option and issuing him a qualifying offer instead. If he’s option is exercised, he’d be on track for unrestricted free agency in 2026, though he’d be extension-eligible.

Scotto’s Latest: Hawks, Green, D’Antoni, Suns, Nogues Gonzalez

April 29th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Hawks seek a new head of basketball operations, their top targets are believed to be Tim Connelly of the Timberwolves and former Warriors general manager Bob Myers, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype confirms.

However, as previously reported, Connelly is expected to sign a new deal to remain in Minnesota. As for Myers, people around the NBA believe it would take a “significant” salary and the perfect fit for the current ESPN analyst to return to an NBA front office, Scotto writes.

Other candidates on Atlanta’s list of potential replacements for former GM Landry Fields include Magic senior advisor John Hammond and NBA G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim, league sources tell HoopsHype. Abdur-Rahim spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Hawks as a player, earning his lone All-Star nod in Atlanta.

Confirming a report from NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link), Scotto says the Hawks are parting ways with VP of pro personnel Grant Liffmann. Atlanta also isn’t expected to retain executive advisor Chris Emens, Scotto adds.

Here’s more from Scotto:

The “prevailing expectation” is that Willie Green will keep his job as the Pelicans‘ head coach entering the 2025/26 season, league sources tell Scotto. However, he hears that New Orleans won’t be retaining coaching advisor Mike D’Antoni, who has been with the organization in that role since 2021.
The “strong belief” around the NBA is that the Suns will be seeking a young, first-time head coach to replace Mike Budenholzer, according to Scotto, who identifies Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott and Thunder assistant Dave Bliss as two candidates expected to receive consideration. Ott was a finalist a year ago for the head coaching opening in Charlotte, while Bliss is the coordinator of an Oklahoma City defense that was the league’s best in 2024/25.
After earning All-Defensive honors in the G League this season with the Rip City Remix, guard Isaac Nogues Gonzalez – one of 106 early entrants in the 2025 NBA draft – intends to keep his name in the draft pool, Scotto reports. He turned down a multiyear offer to play for Club Joventut Badalona in Spain, agent Michael Naiditch informs HoopsHype.

Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Frustrated After Physical Game 3 Against Magic

April 26th, 2025 at 9:51am CST by Tristan Tucker

At least one Celtics player has suffered a minor injury in each of the team’s three playoff games against the Magic so far. As Souichi Terada of MassLive writes, Jayson Tatum sustained a bone bruise in his right wrist in Game 1 that forced him to miss Game 2. In that second game, Kristaps Porzingis received stitches after a cut on his head. And after Friday’s game, Jaylen Brown told reporters that he dislocated his left index finger in Game 3.

Brown said his injury came after a flagrant foul from Cole Anthony, leaving the All-Star frustrated after the Celtics’ first loss of the series.

“There might be a fight break out or something because it’s starting to feel like it’s not even basketball and the refs are not controlling their environment,” Brown said. “So it is what it is. If you want to fight it out, we can do that. We can fight to see who goes to the second round.”

As Terada observes, the Celtics had expected a physical series against Orlando, but it was taken up another level in Game 3 on the Magic’s home court. Turnovers and poor execution led to the Celtics’ loss, though they still maintain a 2-1 series lead.

“I don’t have a problem with the game being physical, but it seems like when I use my physicality, I get called in the opposite direction,” Brown said. “That’s what my frustration was. It was just a tough whistle tonight. Maybe next game will be better, but it started in the third quarter with those two offensive fouls. I feel like the physicality, you are allowing guys to hand check and let it go on both sides then. Other than that, it was just a tough whistle for me tonight and we just got to be ready for Game 4.”

The two teams will square off again on Sunday evening. Tatum was able to return on Friday after missing Game 2, but guard Jrue Holiday was forced to sit out Game 3 due to a hamstring strain.