The Celtics are 4-1 and third in the East going into Sunday's game at Orlando, where Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs are both listed out. Hoops Rumors reported that Boston exercised its options on Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez, the only roster news of the morning.
Orlando arrives short-handed, and its numbers already looked soft.
The Magic are 2-3 and list five players out: Banchero, Suggs, Jonathan Isaac, Noah Penda and Izaiyah Nelson. Banchero has played two games, averaging 24.5 points. That leaves Franz Wagner at 20.8 points and 7.0 assists, Desmond Bane at 17.2 points and Wendell Carter Jr. at 8.6 rebounds. Orlando's defensive rating is 117.0, and Boston's offensive rating is 118.0. Five games is a thin base for either figure, and the absences change the Orlando number in ways that sample cannot show.
Rest favors Boston on Sunday, and Houston is the harder night.
Boston comes in on two days of rest and Orlando on one. The Celtics then play at Houston on November 2, two road games on consecutive nights, before Milwaukee visits on November 4. Devin Carter is still out for illness and listed to return November 8, so the guard rotation stays as it was against Chicago.
The streak is real, but the 66-win pace is not a forecast.
Boston's 9.8 net rating comes from five games, and the current pace projects to 66-16. Two of the four wins came against Chicago, and one came by a single point against Brooklyn. A projection built from five games proves only that five games have been played.
The roster news is minor, and the open questions have not changed.
Scheierman and Gonzalez, whose options Hoops Rumors reported were exercised, were both in the lineup that closed the last five minutes against Chicago. Payton Pritchard scored 30 in that game, and his two-year extension, agreed October 13, still has no reported terms. MassLive's Chris Cotillo reported that Jaylen Brown is sidelined with knee soreness and no timetable. The question for this road trip is whether the bench holds leads away from home: it scored 51 against Chicago, yet the Bulls won the fourth quarter 37-26.
When do the Celtics play the Magic?
Boston plays at Orlando on November 1, then at Houston on November 2.
Who is injured for the Celtics and the Magic?
Devin Carter is Boston's only listed injury: he is out for illness, with a return listed for November 8. Orlando lists Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac, Noah Penda and Izaiyah Nelson as out.
