Will Celtics close out series vs. Magic in Game 5? Here's what history says

Will Celtics close out series vs. Magic in Game 5? Here's what history says originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics are a little banged up right now. Jayson Tatum is dealing with a bone bruise in his wrist. Jaylen Brown had a knee injury over the final few weeks of the regular season. Jrue Holiday has missed the last two games of the NBA playoffs with a right hamstring strain.

Therefore, it would greatly benefit the C’s to end their first-round series against the Orlando Magic with a Game 5 win Tuesday night at TD Garden. The Celtics took a 3-1 series lead with a Game 4 victory at Orlando on Sunday.

What does history say about Boston’s chances of closing out the series in short order?

For starters, the C’s are 31-0 all-time when leading a series 3-1, per stats guru Dick Lipe. In those 31 series, they eliminated the opponent in five games 20 times, six games nine times and seven games twice.

The Magic are 0-7 all-time when they trail a series 3-1. They also have lost four consecutive elimination games. Orlando is 0-8 all-time on the road in Game 5 of a best-of-7 postseason series.

Wrapping up this first-round series as quickly as possible would give the Celtics some extra time to rest and recover before the Eastern Conference semifinals.

But the Magic aren’t likely to quit.

Paolo Banchero is a rising superstar. Franz Wagner is a confident player. Orlando has lost three times in four games but has played Boston pretty competitively throughout the series. This series could easily be tied 2-2 right now, but Tatum and Brown stepped up in the fouth quarter Sunday to lead the C’s to a much-needed win.

The Celtics excelled at ending series quickly in last year’s playoffs. None of their four series went past five games. Can they continue that trend? We’ll find out tonight.