Magic vs. Celtics Playoff Odds: Series Prediction, Odds, Analysis and Best Bet

Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics title defense begins on Sunday, as theyll take on the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs.

Boston followed up a dominant 2023-24 campaign with a 61-win season in the 2024-25 campaign, securing the No.

2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

If it werent for an amazing season by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston would have home court throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs once again.

Instead, itll only hold that honor if it doesnt have to face Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Magic, who needed a play-in tournament win over the Atlanta Hawks to secure the No.

7 seed in the East, have dealt with a bunch of injuries this season.

While Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have returned from oblique injuries and helped carry the team in the second half of the season, Orlando wont get Jalen Suggs back in the lineup in the 2024-25 campaign.

This series is a clash of styles.

No team in the NBA takes or makes more 3-pointers per game than the Celtics, while the Magic who rely on their defense to win games are dead last in the league in 3s made per game.

During the regular season, Orlando actually won two of the three meetings between these teams, but oddsmakers arent giving the Magic much of a chance in this series, setting Boston at +105 odds to pull off a sweep in this first-round matchup.

Heres a full breakdown of the odds, trends to watch and my prediction for this first-round clash in the Eastern Conference.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Magic vs.

Celtics Series Odds Magic: +1600 Celtics: -5000 Magic vs.

Celtics Correct Score Odds Celtics in 4: +105 Celtics in 5: +190 Celtics in 6: +600 Celtics in 7: +1100 Magic in 7: +3500 Magic in 6: +4000 Magic in 5: +6500 Magic in 4: +7500 Magic vs.

Celtics Trends to Watch Orlandos season has been derailed a bit with Banchero, Wagner and Suggs all missing significant time, but it did show some signs of life after the All-Star break.

Orlando was No.

13 in the NBA in net rating after the break, going 14-12 overall.

To close out the regular season, the Magic won seven of their last 10 games, posting the No.

8 net rating and No.

1 defensive rating in the NBA during that stretch.

The decision to move Cory Joseph into the starting lineup has paid dividends for Jamahl Mosleys group, especially when Cole Anthony and Anthony Black both are playing well off the bench as they did in the play-in tournament win against Atlanta.

The defensive end is the calling card for Orlando, as it has a lot of size to deal with Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but the Magics offensive struggles cant be overlooked.

Orlando finished the regular season with the No.

27 offensive rating in the NBA and it was No.

29 in effective field goal percentage.

Against a Boston team that features one of the most potent attacks in the league, the Magic have to shoot the ball better if they want to pull off an upset in this series.

Orlando will likely be set as an underdog in every game, and it struggled in that spot in the regular season, going 13-20-1 against the spread.

To be honest, this series should be over quickly for Boston.

The Cs did lose two games to Orlando in the regular season, but in a playoff setting, Boston simply has too much offense for the Magic to keep up.

The Cs finished the regular season No.

2 in offensive rating, No.

2 in net rating and No.

6 in defensive rating.

They not only make a ton of 3-pointers, but they are efficient while doing it, ranking 10th in 3-point percentage and fifth in effective field goal percentage.

After the All-Star break, Boston kicked things into another gear, ranking behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder in net rating while winning 22 of its 27 games.

Now, Orlando does have some size to match up with Boston a lot better than most teams, but the Cs are simply better across the board on the offensive end.

Boston and Orlando also had the two best scoring defenses in the NBA, so things wont be easy for Orlando on the offensive end.

When it comes to game-to-game betting, its worth noting that Boston was 37-40-1 against the spread as a favorite this season.

Based on these series-long odds, Id expect the Cs to be favored in every game they play against Orlando barring a major injury.

Magic vs.

Celtics Series Prediction and Pick The defending champs showed in the second half of the season that they fully believe that they can repeat this season and oddsmakers seem to agree.

Boston is No.

2 in the odds to win the NBA Finals, and I expect it to cruise past Orlando in the first round.

While some people may point to Orlandos record against Boston in the regular season, I am extremely concerned about the Magic if this series turns into a battle of who can score in the half court.

Not only were the Magic one of the least efficient offenses in the league this season, but everyone saw in the play-in tournament that Orlando can go into major scoring droughts.

While the drought against Atlanta allowed the Hawks back into the game, Boston will bury the Magic if they got a few minutes without scoring.

As good as Orlando is on defense, Boston is also a top-10 unit and only allowed two more points per game than the Magic during the regular season.

This series is also going to come down to the math: Boston shoots a ton of 3-pointers, and its 10th in the league in 3-point percentage.

Orlando, on the other hand, is dead last in 3s made per game and 3-point percentage.

Unless the Magic have an uncharacteristic series from deep, they're going to be fighting an uphill battle every night.

If for some reason you do want to bet on the Magic to win this series, youre better off sprinkling something on them to win in seven, six, five and four rather than simply taking them at +1600 to win the series.

Orlando is +3500 to win in seven the shortest odds of any exact outcome.

Still, it would be shocking if Boston came up short in this first-round matchup.

Pick: Celtics to win the series, Celtics in 5 (+190 at DraftKings) Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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Find Peter Dewey's NBA betting record here (futures included).

You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here .

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