Boston is 4-1 and visits Orlando on Sunday, November 1, then Houston the next day. The Magic are 2-3 with a -7.6 net rating and five players listed out.
Orlando is thin, and the Magic's numbers were already soft.
The Magic are 2-3 with a 109.4 offensive rating and a 117.0 defensive rating. Banchero, Suggs, Penda, Isaac and Nelson are all listed out. Banchero has played two games and averaged 24.5 points, so Orlando's season so far barely includes its best scorer. That makes these five games a weak guide to what the Magic are. Franz Wagner, at 20.8 points, carries the load.
Boston's defense is the number to trust, within limits.
Boston's net rating is 9.8 over five games, built on a 118.0 offense and a 108.1 defense. CelticsBlog's Nate Moskowitz wrote that the defense is winning in a new way. The sample is five games, and the offense has some noise in it. Tatum averages 27.6 points on 25.0 percent from three, while Pritchard shoots 43.3 percent and Hauser 50.0. A three-point rate that lopsided tends to level out, and the lineup data from last season (+17.9 for Brown, White, Queta, Pritchard and Hauser) no longer describes this roster.
Robinson's rest listing is a small test of a pattern.
Mitchell Robinson is listed for rest and expected back today. By our count, 65 of 112 players newly listed this season missed their team's next game, 58 percent, rest days included. On this club it is 0 of 1 so far. Devin Carter, out with illness, is not expected until November 8. Boston has lost 239 player-minutes to injury since opening night, 21st most of 30 teams.
The next week is all road games except one home date with Milwaukee.
After Orlando, Boston plays at Houston on November 2, hosts the Bucks on November 4, then goes to Charlotte on November 6. The Celtics sit 3rd in the East, level with the sixth seed, and the pace projects to 66-16. That projection is arithmetic, not evidence. The open question is whether the defense holds when the opponent is healthy, which Orlando is not.
Who is out for the Magic against the Celtics?
Paolo Banchero, Noah Penda, Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac and Izaiyah Nelson are all listed out.
Is Mitchell Robinson playing against Orlando?
He is listed as available after a rest listing, with an expected return of November 1. His status can still change before tipoff.
