Three games have been played in the first-round series of the 2025 NBA Playoffs between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, and the Magic have committed as many flagrant fouls.
In Game 1, Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was handed a Flagrant 1 foul after he sent forward Jayson Tatum to the ground and injured his wrist. Then, in Game 2, big man Goga Bitadze elbowed star Kristaps Porzingis in the head and had him bleeding profusely, and Bitadze was handed a Flagrant 1 on that play as well. Most recently, Cole Anthony was given a Flagrant 1 after he yanked Jaylen Brown to the ground in Game 3.
After Brown was on the receiving end of a flagrant, he suggested that a fight could break out between the Celtics and Magic in due time with the level of physicality in the series
“There might be a fight break out or something,” Brown said. “Because it’s starting to feel like it’s not even basketball and the refs are not controlling their environment. 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.”
He also acknowledged that the Magic have already committed their fair share of flagrant fouls in the best-of-seven series.
“We’re supposed to be playing basketball,” Brown said. “That’s what it’s about, playing basketball, getting up and down. The flagrant fouls is piling up, you know what I mean?”
Brown and the Celtics picked up their first loss of the 2025 NBA Playoffs in Friday’s Game 3. The forward’s level of play in the game on the offensive side of the ball implies that the Magic’s physical play on defense negatively impacted him, as he scored just 19 points after his 36-point explosion in Game 2.
Tatum picked up the slack, as he returned to the lineup after missing the first playoff game of his NBA career in Game 2 and dropped a whopping 36 points, but the defending champions still lost by two points.
As has been the status quo in this series, Magic stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner carried the team on the offensive end of the floor at Kia Center in Game 3. The former scored 29 points while the latter totaled 32, and the duo accounted for more than half of Orlando’s 95 points scored in the game.
Whether or not the Magic will have a real puncher’s chance to win the series against Boston could hinge on how the team fares in Sunday’s Game 4. A win for Orlando would tie the series up at two games, while a loss would put the Magic in a 3-1 series hole.
