Celtics have tunnel vision on Magic as they begin their attempt to repeat as NBA champions

BOSTON AP It s been six months since Celtics star Jayson Tatum stood at center court in Boston s TD Garden and addressed fans minutes after receiving his championship ring and watching the franchise s th banner raised into the rafters Tatum welled with emotion as he thanked fans for their assistance during the title run He then paused and expressed one final desire Let s do it again he mentioned That quest begins Sunday when Boston the East s second seed opens its first-round playoff series against the seventh-seeded Orlando Magic No unit has won back-to-back NBA championships since the Golden State Warriors last did it in - and - The Celtics are in good position to end the repeat drought coming off their second straight -win season But Tatum noted that is the farthest things from their minds at this point We re not worried about anything besides the Magic right now Tatum commented We re not looking past the second third or fourth round We ve got to try to make it out of this one That s all that s on our mind is trying to get ready for Contest There is one big question mark for the Celtics entering the postseason which is the wellness of last season s conference and Finals MVP Jaylen Brown who has a lingering right knee issue that caused him to miss the final three games of the regular season Coach Joe Mazzulla authenticated that Brown received an injection in his knee in the last few days while also adding that Brown had no limitations and has been a full participant in practices this week I m not here to talk about my knee guys Brown stated Saturday when inquired about it s current status It is what it is I m focused on Orlando But he also acknowledged that playing through whatever pain he has in his knee is motivation You could say that I don t put too much pressure on myself he disclosed I just take it one day at a time and let things fall where they may I m very fortunate and grateful to be in this position in the playoffs with a great opportunity I ve been playing basketball for a long time I m one of the best athletes in the world It s enough We ve got enough So we ve just got to figure it out one day at a time Orlando arrives in Boston as a club nobody expected to be in this position after guard Jalen Suggs was ruled out for the remainder of the season on March after undergoing knee surgery and forward Moritz Wagner was sidelined for the year after tearing the ACL in his left knee and having surgery on Jan Yet after ending the regular season by winning of their final games and then routing Atlanta in the play-in tournament in his fourth season coach Jamahl Mosley has the Magic back in the playoffs for the second straight season However you get there you get there Mosley announced Sometimes the path is one way And for us it was a lot of injuries a lot of tough nights a lot of close games lost but then finding a way to get the job done now That s the goal to get there But also to make a few noise in there and not just settle for saying we just accept just being there This group believes in what they re capable of doing on any given night Despite posting the best road season in club history - Boston lost the season series to the Magic - with both losses in Orlando Boston didn t have Tatum in either loss But what wasn t a fluke is that the Magic held the Celtics to their fewest -point makes this season per possessions during three matchups Orlando also enters the series coming off making -pointers against the Hawks a strong sign for any squad looking to compete with a Boston unit that set a new NBA record with -point makes this season But Mosley reported they don t expect to try to go toe-to-toe with the Celtics in that department You re not going to try to get in a rat race with them They shoot s a challenge that s not our identity and we won t try to make it our identity he declared But at the end of the day for our guys to go for in play-in against Hawks and still have assists says something about this group and for our ability to get the defensive stops which is where we hang our hats AP NBA https apnews com hub nba Source