Not even three minutes into the third quarter, the Orlando Magic were incredulous.
A series full of physicality and defense, a series where the teams have been allowed to push and grab, and a series that has been all about the physicality, suddenly became a series of touch fouls.
Paolo Banchero opened the third quarter was called for a charge while trying to post up. Then he got called for a light glance on Jaylen Brown for his fourth foul. The Magic kept him in because he is that important. They needed his stability.
A few possessions later, with Banchero trying to show his hands and avoid contact, he took a slight bump on Brown and then an elbow to the face. The officials called the foul on Banchero and confirmed it on review. An incensed Magic bench had no choice but to sit Banchero to protect him from a sixth foul.
That was the keystone that finally broke the dam. As Brown gave the Celtics the lead for good at the foul line, and then sparked a 19-7 run. The Magic now had to play catch-up without their star player.
After suppressing the Celtics' offense and their dominant three-point shooting in the first half and most of the third quarter, the Magic were the ones pressing and trying to find relief. And this offense does not have the ability to do so.
The three fouls on Banchero changed the game. Without Paolo Banchero in to balnce the floor with Franz Wagner, Orlando lost its big offensive push and threat. After holding the lead the entire first half, the Magic played with one arm behind their back. They could not avoid their biggest weakness on their biggest stage.
Quite simply, the Celtics smelled blood after Banchero's fifth foul. Orlando was powerless to stop the dam from breaking in a 120-89 loss in Game 5 of the series with Boston. The Magic are eliminated from the postseason.
Like so much this season, the Magic were left to wonder what if and left bare what they missed to compete in this kind of a series.
"They opened the game up," Paolo Banchero said after Game 5. "But that's what happens. If I'm able to be in the game, that doesn't happen. We were playing well. But it wasn't in the cards for us. . . . It's hard for the team to withstand me going out for that long, honestly. You saw that in the third quarter. It was a tough spot for our team to be in."
The fatal flaw
The Orlando Magic's fatal flaws were hideously exposed as Paolo Banchero left the game in the third quarter. With that piece of the offense gone, the Magic leaned heavily on Franz Wagner.
He delivered as much as he could. Unfortunately, Orlando did not have the shooting acumen to assist and keep the Magic on top.
As has been the case all season, the Magic struggled from deep, making 8 of 38 threes. Many of them were good looks from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (2 for 7), Cory Joseph (0 for 4) and Jonathan Isaac (0 for 2).
The Magic went 4 for 10 in the first quarter to build a lead, getting a big hit from Gary Harris to end the quarter with a four-point lead. They missed their next 19 3-pointers before Banchero drained a three to open the fourth quarter.
That is not going to get the job done. Even with the defensive effort the team put in to force turnovers and win the glass throughout the first half.
Orlando needs offense to sustain itself.
By the time the Magic righted the ship and found their range, the Celtics had done their damage, going 0 for 6 from three in the first half to 13 for 18 in the second half.
That is what the Magic always feared in this series. It finally came to fruition. They had no answer.
"It kind of ruined our flow," Wendell Carter said after Game 5. "The game was moving kind of fast at that point. It was tough for us with him being one of our primary ball handlers. It was a tough moment for anyone filling in those shoes. It was tough."
The margins
Both coaches said the series would come down to the margins and the little plays that decide games. The Orlando Magic decidedly won all of them in the first half.
The Magic had 10 of their 15 offensive rebounds and nine of their 15 second-chance points in the first half. They forced the Boston Celtics into nine of their 11 turnovers in the first half. The Magic scored 11 of their 13 fast-break points in the first half.
But Orlando could not create any of those same opportunities in the second half. The Magic could not find much breathing space as the Celtics sharpened their execution and limited those mistakes. The opportunity to take advantage of those mistakes was gone.
And that is where the Magic losing Banchero hurt the most. This is where the Magic's lack of offensive weaponry and offensive dynamism hurt the most.
Orlando simply had nowhere else to turn. Banchero finished with 19 points on 6-for-15 shooting in 29:47. Franz Wagner had 25 points on 10-for-22 shooting. Wendell Carter was the only player to hit double figures with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
But Orlando could not find any relief. The open shots the team got would not fall.
And finally the dam broke. Finally Orlando's defense could not sustain itself. The Magic could not find a response. The Celtics found relief from deep and buried the team, ending their season.
"Obviously they made a lot of threes in that third and fourth quarter," Franz Wagner said after Game 5. "We struggled to score once Paolo went out. I thought we had a couple of good looks that wouldn't go and a couple of bad possessions as well. And then they went on that big run."
What could have been
We will never know what kind of game it would have been if Paolo Banchero had not hit foul trouble.
The Boston Celtics may have found their rhythm and won the game anyway. Orlando, for all the good it had done in this game and throughout the series, never created separation from Boston. The Celtics were always in the game, even when the Magic played at their best.
The Magic will never get the chance to see or think about what that version of Game 5 might be. This is the version they got. They were unable to withstand the emotional toll of Banchero's foul trouble or the shooting and playmaking they missed when he was gone.
More than anything, the Magic saw in this game what their flaws are. The whole thing collapsed when they lost their top player—something that was not true when it happened in October and November when Banchero tore his oblique.
The Magic need a lot more to compete with teams like the Celtics. And the loss of their star player finally broke their discipline as the Magic went searching for answers as their rotation was suddenly jumbled completely up.
They exit the series more frustrated than disappointed. Frustrated they could not take advantage of their opportunities, frustrated they did not get the chance to put their best foot forward, and frustrated because this season was frustrating.
They exited with their flaws exposed as the Celtics finally broke them.