Magic plan to keep ‘mucking it up’ against Celtics after hard foul on Jayson Tatum
"I look at it like a positive because now we’ve got them complaining."
It took only one game for the bad blood to start brewing between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic.
While Boston blew out Orlando, 103-86, in Game 1 of their first-round matchup on Sunday, it came at a cost.
Celtics superstar forward Jayson Tatum injured his wrist in the fourth quarter after Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope fouled him while going up for a dunk — with Tatum hitting the hardwood as a result.
While Tatum’s X-ray results postgame were negative, he has been tabbed as “doubtful” for Game 2 on Wednesday night as a result of a bone bruise on his right wrist.
Caldwell-Pope’s foul against Tatum drew the ire of Celtics big man Al Horford, who did not mince words about the play when asked about it on Tuesday afternoon.
“There was something extra,” Horford said of the foul. ‘There was a lot – it was the second or third time that especially [Caldwell-Pope] went at him in that way. … “It just reminds you of what the playoffs are and the intensity that you play with all competing. We’re playing hard. There’s a level to it.”
Despite Horford’s candid comments about Caldwell-Pope’s foul, it doesn’t seem as though the Magic plan on altering their approach against Boston on Wednesday.
“That stuff really means nothing to me,” Orlando guard Cole Anthony said Wednesday when asked about Horford’s comments, via Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “At the end of the day, if anything, I look at it like a positive because now we’ve got them complaining.
“We’ve just got to keep our same level of physicality and at the same time know nobody’s trying to take anybody out and hurt anybody. We all play this game the right way. We’re going to keep mucking it up. You’re just giving us good feedback.”
Anthony’s comments don’t necessarily come as much of a surprise, as the Magic’s success is rooted in a physical defensive approach designed to both limit 3-point shots and contest attempts around the paint.
That gameplan stands as the reason why Orlando ranked first in the regular season in fewest points allowed per game (105.4).
As such, Caldwell-Pope also pushed back against the assertion that he needs to tone down his physicality moving forward.
“Just a foul. Playoff basketball,” Caldwell-Pope told Bobby Manning of CLNS Media on Wednesday. “That’s all I gotta say on it. I didn’t hear any comments [from Horford]. I’m not worried about any comments.
“At the end of the day, this is how I play, this is how I’ve been playing in playoff basketball. A hard foul is a hard foul. I really don’t care what anybody says. I’m still gonna play how I play, how I’m supposed to play for my team at the end of the day.”
Beyond potentially playing without Tatum on Wednesday, the Celtics are likely in line for another bruising game against Orlando on Wednesday.
But Celtics guard Payton Pritchard said on Tuesday that he is not fretting about what should be another scrappy matchup at TD Garden.
“I don’t feel intimidated,” Pritchard said of the Magic. “I grew up playing physical basketball in the backyard, playing with my brothers and friends, and I think we all have. No matter what a hard foul is, we’re just gonna get up and play ball and just check it back up.
“Obviously they fouled him hard and then he had a little fall, but It’s not gonna stop us from what we’re trying to achieve. It’s not gonna knock us off our path.”
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