Despite Backing the Celtics, Stephen A. Smith Reveals How Magic Can Make the Series “Very Interesting”

The Magic failed to expand on the success they experienced last season, falling into the Play-In tournament. A big part of the same can be attributed to the horrible luck they had with injuries. Fortunately, their victory against the Hawks secured them the seventh seed and a first-round matchup against the Celtics. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith is within the majority who believe the Celtics will prevail. However, he reveals what the Magic can do to make the series significantly more interesting.

Boston is one of the most feared teams in the NBA, and for good reason. They are the defending champions and haven’t shown any signs of slippage in their pursuit of back-to-back titles. Surprisingly, unlike the majority of basketball fans, Magic faithful don’t fear the Celtics.

In the closing moments of Orlando’s Play-In victory over the Hawks, fans began to chant, “We want Boston.” They are extremely confident that their team can pull off the upset and advance to the second round. On the other hand, analysts don’t share the same sentiment.

Many figures in the media space believe the Celtics will convincingly move on despite the Magic’s 6-4 record against Boston in their last 10 matchups. Smith is among those figures. Despite his faith in Boston, he provides some insight on what Orlando can do to give themselves a fighter’s chance — run Celtics off the 3-point line.

“Even though the Magic can’t shoot threes, they will lock your behind up,” Smith said. “If they can do that against the Boston Celtics, they can make it very interesting.”

“Even though the Magic can’t shoot threes … they will lock yo behind up.”@StephenASmith believes the Magic can make this series “very interesting” if they run the Celtics off the 3-point line pic.twitter.com/ndI3NmOlsR

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 20, 2025

Every team in the playoffs has an identity. For the Magic, their identity is within their relentless defense. Their tenacity and physicality have led them to become one of the few teams to win their season series against Boston. Smith believes they have the tools to add excitement to this series as long as the Magic can replicate that.

Celtics, on the other hand, have made an identity for themselves as a 3-point shooting team. They lead the league with 48.2 three-point attempts a game, 5.8 attempts more than the team that’s second on the list.

Orlando has held Boston to 11.5 fewer three-point attempts in their three matchups this season. A large recipe for their success comes from connecting on more three-pointers than their opponent. When they fail to do that, they hold a 7-14 record.

The Magic are one of the best teams suited to potentially contain the Celtics from three-point range. They will showcase whether they are capable in Game 1 this afternoon at 3:30 PM ET on ABC.