On Friday night, the Boston Celtics will look to avenge a pre-Christmas loss to the Orlando Magic. The two Eastern Conference foes will meet for the second time in the 2024-25 NBA season.
Boston has been in cruise control for most of the season, but the loss in Orlando came during a rare lull in performance from the defending champions. In the weeks since then, the Celtics appear to have corrected their mistakes and are eager to move past their previous loss to the Magic.
For Orlando’s part, injuries derailed what was a season with so much promise. The Magic have recently begun to get key contributors back ahead of a second-half push for playoff seeding. That high-chance second half of the season will get a tough test in the form of a trip to the northeast and a game against the champs.
With a potential Eastern Conference playoff series preview to look forward to on Friday night at TD Garden, check out our Orlando Magic vs. Boston Celtics predictions, including our NBA expert picks, with tip set for January 17 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics Matchup Overview
Teams: Orlando Magic vs. Boston Celtics
Date: Friday, January 17, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: TD Garden
Win Probabilities
The prediction tip for the winner in the game between the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics is the Boston Celtics.
Projected Final Score
Our predicted final score for this NBA matchup is Boston Celtics 114-106 Orlando Magic.
Expert Prediction: Who Wins?
In the early stages of this season, the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic appeared primed to meet in the second or third round of the Eastern Conference playoffs as two top four seeds in the conference. With the defending champion Celtics and a young, confident, tough Magic team, a tremendous matchup was ahead.
Unfortunately, a truly wild string of injuries for Orlando served to derail its season. The Magic fell back from the pack but have hung around in fourth—thanks largely to their defense—but are very much in a six-team group with squads around the 20-loss mark.
With the Magic getting healthier, they have a great chance at reclaiming possession of fourth all the way through April. In doing so, they’d set up a potential road to meeting the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Before that, however, we’ll see a potential preview via the second meeting of the year between Orlando and Boston.
Why the Orlando Magic Can Cover
The Orlando Magic has four players averaging more than 10.0 points per game this season: Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, and Moritz Wagner. All four have suffered long-term injuries at various points in the season and, in the case of the older Wagner brother, are done for the year.
Despite a truly unbelievable stretch of injuries, the Magic have remained in the top six in the Eastern Conference playoff race thanks to a tremendous defense. That defense gives them a chance in every single game, even a road trip to face the league’s defending champions.
Orlando is second in adjusted defensive rating this year, and it has sustained this level despite losing Suggs, its best defender, by a wide margin for a stretch. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder, at 1.002, allow fewer points per possession than the Magic’s 1.035. Only the Thunder makes it harder for the opposition to knock down shots, with the Magic’s opposition floor rate of 47.6, second-best in the NBA.
That level of defense keeps Orlando in tight games and, when it has an offensive hub capable of taking over, enables it to have a chance to win any matchup. With Paolo Banchero back in the lineup, that notion becomes truer than ever. After a lengthy absence of over 30 games, the third-year phenom returned with ease.
In a return on Friday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, Banchero scored 34 points on 52% shooting and, quite impressively, was a +6 in a 3-point Magic loss. Banchero’s return and the continued excellence of their defense give the Magic a great chance in this spot.
Why the Boston Celtics Can Cover
The Boston Celtics have tremendous balance, while the Orlando Magic rely on their great defense and unique talent in Banchero to propel them forward. Boston is a top-three offense by adjusted rating and well within the top 10 in adjusted defensive rating.
It’s that sort of balance that sees the Celtics sit in the top three in the league in net rating while their foes on Friday sit outside the top 10. While it reflects a good versus great matchup, Boston still has a very tough task to accomplish to hold off the Magic.
While even the Celtics’ masterclass in a drive-and-kick, three-point shooting orientated offense can be limited by a defense as strong as the Magic’s, they can return serve by containing Banchero defensively.
Last year, when Banchero played 80 of 82 games, his ability to get downhill and then play make or score from inside was crucial. The Magic averaged 50.7 paint points per game, a mark in the top 10 in the NBA. In Banchero’s return on Friday, the Magic scored 54.0 paint points—a nearly 8.0 point increase on their season average.
It is the lifeblood of Orlando’s offense, but it can be cut off by the Celtics. Since Kristaps Porzingis returned, the C’s rim protection has returned to a high level after finishing in the top 10 in paint points against per game last year. In limiting Banchero’s ability to get to the rim, the Celtics are limiting the Magic’s offense entirely—and putting themselves in a great position to cover and win.
How to Make Orlando Magic vs. Boston Celtics Picks
Ready to make picks on the Orlando Magic vs. Boston Celtics matchup on Friday, January 17? Make sure to head over to Sportzino, where you can find every NBA game on the slate this weekend and so much more!
