Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics Series Predictions and Best Bets

by Spencer Toth - 4/17/2025

The Boston Celtics will be kicking off their playoff run with a visit from the Orlando Magic. Anytime the defending champions take the court, there will never be a shortage of excitement, and a full-strength Celtics team will be difficult to get past. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were a dominant duo in the playoffs last year, and the Celtics All-Stars will be confident they can easily surpass this first hurdle. The Orlando Magic snuck into the playoffs after beating the Hawks in the play-in tournament, but now face an uphill battle against the Celtics. Will the Magic’s strong defense keep this series close, or will the Celtics shooters blow Orlando out of the water in their first step towards a second consecutive championship?

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Boston Celtics:
The Boston Celtics finished behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for top spot in the Eastern Conference, but they are still the favorites to reach the NBA Finals with -145 odds to do so. Boston lost only three games en route to their championship last season in one of the most dominant runs of this century. They took advantage of injuries to their opponents, but the best ability is availability in the NBA.

The Celtics elected to run it back with a very similar lineup to last season, as their primary rotation remained untouched. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown remain the primary options on offense, but what makes this team so dangerous is their depth. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard have developed nicely into lethal shooters, and the Celtics have no shortage of guards capable of raining it down from deep. Kristaps Porzingis has managed to stay healthy this season, and his inclusion in the lineup could elevate the Celtics to a truly unstoppable status. Rounding out the starting five is Jrue Holiday, and Holiday is the real glue for this team.

Anyone can shoot the three ball in the modern NBA, but the defensive work Jrue Holiday puts in is truly irreplaceable. Holiday hasn’t been able to collect a DPOY award due to his position as guards are often overlooked in favor of towering big men. However, as the NBA sees the percentage of shots from behind the arc continue to increase, defensive guards have become a hot commodity for NBA contenders. Holiday won a championship with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, then made the switch to Boston and brought the city its first ring in more than a decade. His ability to blanket the best player on the opposition is one of the reasons the Celtics won last year, and one of the reasons they are heavy favorites this season.

Boston made a league high 17.8 threes per game in the regular season, and sank 154 more threes than the next closest team. To put that into perspective, the second place Cavaliers scored 1303 triples, but they are closer to the 9th place Spurs than the first place Celtics. Boston will live and die with the three point shot, and it is quite common to see all five Celtics waiting behind the arc on offense. The Celtics have a balanced offense of scorers, they have a strong defensive rating, and all the championship experience needed to navigate a grueling two months of NBA playoffs.

Orlando Magic:

The Magic were forced to play without Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner for much of the regular season and slid into the play-in tournament as a result. They face an incredibly tough Celtics team in the first round, and will need to play perfect basketball if they want to make this a series. Orlando has been one of the most consistent defenses in the league this season, but the season-ending injury to Jalen Suggs dented their title aspirations. Banchero and Wagner are still two capable scorers, but without a truly elite defense the Magic will struggle against the deeper teams in the Eastern Conference.

Regardless of what happens in this series, the Magic will see this season as a step in the right direction. A small market team like Orlando has to develop its assets rather than luring them in free agency, and the Magic have a promising young core in Orlando. Banchero has proven he is capable of delivering in big moments, and they took the Cavaliers to seven games last year in the playoffs. Banchero can score from all three levels, he is still growing into his large frame and has become more responsible with the basketball in his third NBA season. The Magic still have the second best defensive unit after their strong start, but they thrive at shutting down the interior rather than the perimeter. There are countless three point specialists in the Eastern Conference, meaning the Magic will need to prioritize the three point ball rather than attacking and defending the painted area. Orlando scored the fewest three pointers in the league this season, and that isn’t a recipe for success in today’s NBA.

Series Prediction:
The Boston Celtics will wipe the floor with the Orlando Magic in this series. If the Magic still had a healthy Jalen Suggs to terrorize the Celtics shooters this may be a different story. However, the current Magic team will struggle to win a single game against the Celtics, much less the series. Boston scores the most three pointers in the league while the Magic score the fewest. Orlando won’t be able to nickel and dime their way to wins in the paint, and they are far less capable of making the valuable shots in this series. Tatum and Brown are both better scorers than Banchero and Wagner, and the Celtics have a positional advantage in every position on the court. The Celtics bench is deeper too, as Pritchard and Al Horford would instantly slot into the starting lineup in Orlando. Could the Magic steal a game at home to force a Game 5 in Boston? Possibly. Will I be banking on Orlando to suddenly figure out how to shoot the three ball? Absolutely not. The Celtics are still the best team in the league until proven otherwise, and this is about as easy a first round as they could’ve asked for. Boston knows what it takes to win in the playoffs, and they will not play with their food against the Magic.

Prediction: Boston Celtics in 4 Games

Best Bets:

The betting options for this series are quite limited due to the lopsided odds. Boston has -8000 odds to advance while the Magic are bouncing back with +1800 odds. Neither of these lines are playable as there is no justification for laying -8000 odds on a future, and you are better off taking the moneyline each night than the series line if the Magic are your team of choice. Boston has +120 odds to sweep the series, and -500 odds on a -2.5 games series line. The odds on a sweep are certainly tempting considering the Celtics are -1000 moneyline favorites in game one. Boston should be able to comfortably take a 2-0 series lead, and the plus money price for them to close things out in Orlando makes it worth a wager.

For the second bet of the series, we will be taking both Paolo Banchero and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to make the most threes in the series at +2200 and +4000 odds, respectively. Orlando may not have made many threes in the regular season, but they have no choice but to start jacking up the deep ball against the Celtics. Banchero and Caldwell-Pope are the best shooters for the Magic, but they will still be hard-pressed to edge out Tatum and White from behind the arc. This is expected to be a short series, which is great for these long shots. One big night from either of these men could be enough, and the long odds make it worth a small wager before the festivities kick off Saturday night.

Top Pick: Boston Celtics (-3.5) Games +120

Pick: Paolo Banchero Most 3s in the Series +2200

Pick: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Most 3s in the Series +4000

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Start:	April 30, 2025 @ 9:30 PM
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Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics Series Predictions and Best Bets

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