Game Preview - Maine at Osceola - March 5, 2024

Game details:                  

Matchup: Maine Celtics (14-11) at Osceola Magic (14-7) 

Location: Silver Spurs Arena; Kissimmee, Florida 

Tipoff: 7:00 PM EST                  

Streaming: ESPN+ 

The Maine Celtics are down in the Sunshine State for the rubber match of their five-game road trip. Tonight’s opponent: the Osceola Magic, winners of seven-straight games. 

Osceola enters tonight’s contest as the second-place team in the East, though they’re only two games up on sixth-place Maine due to the discrepancy in games played. The Magic and Celtics already met once this season back on Feb. 4, a 112-89 win for Osceola at home – that game kicked off their current win-streak. Tonight marks the second and final meeting of the season between these teams – the Celtics need a win tonight to avoid the series sweep, and they can end a win-streak that began over a month ago. 

Breaking down the Magic: 

Osceola’s Two-Way and assignment players do the heavy lifting, starting with two-time reigning NBA Dunk Contest champion Mac McClung. Averaging 23.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists, McClung leads the team in scoring and assists while being one of its best volume shooters at 36.8% on 6.3 attempted threes per game. JD Davison only played 22 minutes in the first meeting – Davison will have another opportunity to outduel a fellow high-flying Two-Way point guard tonight. 

Five-year NBA veteran D.J. Wilson follows up McClung with 21.6 points per game, and Trevelin Queen isn’t far behind at 21.1, though he’s only played eight games with Osceola. Jett Howard, the 11^th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, has appeared in 18 regular season games on assignment, posting 19.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest and shooting 36.2% from beyond the arc. Two-Way guard Kevon Harris leads the team in 3-point efficiency at 40.8%, adding 15.9 points and 5.5 rebounds to his stat line. Apart from those five players, everybody on the Magic roster averages 11.1 points or fewer per game. 

Led by its Two-Ways and assignments, Osceola boasts the #3 offense and #14 defense, impressive overall marks despite the lack of production from the bench. The Magic’s 62% true shooting mark is third in the G League, and they’re top-five in 3-point makes and attempts, and ninth in percentage. The Magic like to get threes up in a hurry, and oftentimes they reap the benefits thanks to the host of shooters in the lineup – much like our Maine Celtics. 

Keys to the game: 

Shut the water off: As mentioned earlier in the preview, the Magic don’t have much offense outside of the top dogs. If some combination of McClung, Wilson, Howard, and Harris can be thrown off their rhythm, the Celtics are going to be in great shape. It can be difficult for role-players to expand their game on the spot and pick up the slack. 

No Neemi tonight: Neemias Queta suffered a right knee hyperextension against Wisconsin last time out and has since rejoined Boston to recover. That means the league’s leading shot-blocker, Kylor Kelley, and one of the league’s best offensive rebounders in James Banks III will handle the minutes at the five tonight. No problem at all for head coach Blaine Mueller.