Just a few days back, the Orlando Magic fans made their desire clear after booking their playoff ticket. Orlando faithful filled the Kia Center with a chorus of “We Want Boston!” chants. But they should’ve been careful about what they wished for. The defending champions are on the brink of advancing to the next round after a crucial road 107-98 victory over the Magic. This win has put Boston in the driver’s seat as they now possess a comfortable 3-1 lead in the series. Orlando did everything to avoid falling into a 3-1 deficit. In fact, they almost did it with the game tied at 91 in the fourth quarter. However, Jayson Tatum and Co. were too much to handle for the Magic.

The Celtics went on a 16-7 run in the final few minutes to close the game out against a young and hungry Magic squad. Jayson Tatum was the star of the night, scoring 37 points, 14 rebounds, and three assists. At the same time, big man Kristaps Porzingis also had a solid night, finishing with 19 points and five rebounds. This was a much-needed win not only for the series but also because this was Boston’s first win in Orlando since October 2022. It has been a highly intense series so far, and now with the C’s taking a commanding lead, Porzingis has been a key figure for his team.

The Latvian center struggled with injuries during the postseason last year. However, this season he has been rejuvenated, and if you were to ask his teammate, Jaylen Brown, Porzingis is better than ever. “Yeah, we’ve been talking about it all year long, just preparing for these moments, you know, bodywise, just taking care of your body. KP’s in I think in much better shape than he was last year, physically, mentally more prepared, and tonight he had an excellent game.” Brown stated after the win on Sunday. The Boston shooting guard pointed out that his teammate has been in much better shape than last year, and it’s translating onto the court as well. This year, Porzingis has already featured in four games and is on the right trajectory to overtake last year’s seven games.

Moreover, he’s having a solid postseason, averaging 12.8 points, along with 6.8 rebounds. “I think that put back he got when the game was tied he missed the the layup from the pass from JT got the rebound and dunked it and they called the foul and one I think that’s when the game started to shift in the fourth quarter and then from there we were able to give ourselves like a little bit of a cushion but that was a huge play. So now KP has been he’s been preparing himself for these moments, and today was an example of uh that work just showing just showing up.” Brown said. He believes that Kristaps Porzingis’ hard work in training is paying off big time in the postseason. It has helped him prepare for clutch moments, which will be huge further down the road.

As Porzingis continues to make progress, fresh accusations have hit the Orlando Magic locker room.

Kristaps Porzingis slaps fresh accusations on Orlando

A major storyline in this series between Orlando and Boston has been its physicality, of which the Boston Celtics are not a big fan. Several of the Celtics’ superstars and even head coach, Joe Mazzulla, have criticized the Magic for being overly physical and causing injuries. Just the other night, this hard fouling caused another injury to the Celtics. In Game 3, Jaylen Brown was pulled to the ground by Cole Anthony while attempting a shot during the second quarter. This led Brown to land awkwardly on his left hand and dislocate his index finger. While a foul was called by the officials, the 28-year-old was in immense pain.

Kristaps Porzingis was also the victim of this tactic by the Magic. He caught Goga Bitadze’s stray elbow on his forehead and needed stitches. Additionally, Jayson Tatum also got injured in Game 1 and missed Game 2. This led to the Celtics falling short in Game 3 as they lost 95-93 against Orlando. However, they bounced right back, and Kristaps Porzingis threw some shade on Orlando’s aggressive gameplay. “Well, I mean, just looking at the film. I had some opportunities in the third game, which I kind of just popped out, and we didn’t really get anything, and the spacing was not good. Just look at some opportunities there and a bit more movement bit more movement a bit more fluidity. They already tried to make the game real, like muddy, is that a word muddy, and so we just need to combat that, and I think I did a better job today.” Porzingis stated after Sunday’s massive win.

He revealed how watching films of the previous games helped them reflect on their mistakes and correct them in Game 4. Most importantly, he pointed out that his team tried to make the game more fluid because Orlando, through their fouls, already made the game “muddy.” He suggested that the Magic try to disrupt the flow of the game and take advantage of that. That’s not all! “We want to shoot open ones (threes), you know, especially in games like this against a matchup like this. If we have an opportunity, we have to let it fly, you know. I felt like we had a couple today, and probably the games earlier. Also, that we turned down and against an opponent like this that plays like this, super aggressive, taking away the threes, the ones that we have open, we have to take them.” He pointed out the importance of taking shots from the deep, something they are known for.

Porzingis emphasized taking open shots, especially against an aggressive team like Orlando, further taking subtle shots at the Florida franchise. Well, Boston’s tweak in their tactics seemed to work as they now head back to the TD Garden needing only one more win to advance to the next round.