After the bruises series with Orlando's bruises, Boston becomes sharper and has time to heal

BOSTON - Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla doesn't want to hear any rest wins before he plays a knockout in the first round series against the Orlando Magic, which will make it affordable for his sick team.

"Well, we have to win Game 5," he said.

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They did, dominating Orlando in the second half of the 120-89 victory and winning the series 4-1.

Meanwhile, the opponent in the next round remains uncertain as the Detroit Pistons beat the New York Knicks to extend its series to Game 6 Thursday. Tuesday's results provided the Celtics with at least a few days off, which is important, given their bruises against the Magic.

"It's good or bad," Mazzulla, a counter-trend, said later. "We're going to exit the arena for a few days. It might be good. But I think as we start preparing for the next series, we have to get back into the arena and be ready. We're going to spend the days and we're going to get back on it."

They will need these days. It's a physical series, like the NBA that fills the body in the first round. Jaylen Brown has been battling a right knee injury since mid-March. Jayson Tatum suffered a bone bruise in his shooting wrist and his shooting wrist was fouled in the first match.

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“That’s great,” Brown said of the extra rest. "When did we play first?" No one knew. “Whatever it is, I’m going to take advantage of this and be ready to go through the next step.”

go pass them. That's how this first-round series feels about the Magic. Despite the imbalance in the results, Orlando gave the Celtics everything they could handle from a physical perspective. The Magic's defense ranked second in the NBA in the regular season, and he guarded the Celtics, rarely helped, always switched, and had a lot of one-on-one games. The game plan requires Boston to experience them.

That Tatum did it, collecting 35 points (10 from 16 shots), 10 assists and 8 rebounds in 34 minutes of work. He did the same thing in Game 4, with a total of 37 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists. It's hard to assist throughout the series. Since Magic stays on Boston's shooting game, there is no easy open 3s. So instead, Tatum and Brown did their work on a small island and did a great job.

It's another lesson for a team that has seen nearly all of the six finals over the past eight years, including two finals and last year's championship.

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“You can say that,” Brown said. "I just see every experience as an opportunity to learn, so it's a great learning experience for us, going through a full playoff series, having to stay physically, having to get stuck. Blatant foul, playing through it. Figuring it out. Physical victory. Still finding ways to win. It's one of the challenges people have to deal with us before the season:'Cutting this season, it's going to take 3 points, the effort we'll do, the effort we can do, we can do, we can answer, we can do, we can do, we can do, we can do, we can do, we can give any response. Keep going, but in our back pocket can bring the playoffs."

As Celtic big man Al Horford said, if we know something about the Knicks and the Pistons, “they are both very hard-working teams.” If any team hopes the Magic will provide a blueprint for winning against the Celtics, they believe (if any) that this series is the one that makes them stronger.

"I think that's the theme of the series - Body in the Troops," Mazzulla said. "Every series, every game introduces the course, and if you have the pleasure of moving on, you can take classes. We can learn a lot from this series, and no matter the next person we compete, we're ready for us."

Tatum is ready. The challenges that Magic puts out, he solved them, just like the challenges he planned to do to anyone who comes next. The confidence to do so comes from the experience of winning last season.

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"This season was the most relaxed and caring person of my career, and learning that we won last year, we achieved our ultimate goal, and we kind of got that monkey out of the way," Tatum said. "Obviously, the goal this year is still the same goal, winning and competing for the championship. I just loved playing carefree basketball this season without hanging on my head. It's fun.

"This allows me to focus on future tasks. I'm not worried about trying to prove anyone wrong or something like that. It's something I know I'm able to do. I know we've shown that when we play somehow, so it's all about getting to that level."

Indeed: This series is not the best of the Celtics. They know who they are and they have another level they can achieve. Maybe the Knicks or the Pistons will stand out from it in the next round. They may need a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. This may outperform yourself, but these are the defending champions who expect themselves.

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"I won't take it for granted," Brown said in Tuesday's victory in Celtic legend Tommy Heinsohn's 17 professional playoff series wins. "This is my ninth season and eighth playoffs, so I was able to be some of the most winning players on this team and I'm still very grateful, I'm still very grateful. I'm excited to move on to the next round. I'm so happy to keep going. Here, I'm not being the bossing anymore. It's the playoffs.

But first rest in peace.