The Celtics’ bid for back-to-back championships will begin with a matchup against the Magic.

By defeating the Atlanta Hawks 120-95 on Tuesday in the first game of the NBA Play-In Tournament, No. 7 seed Orlando advanced to face second-seeded Boston in the opening round of the playoffs. Game 1 is Sunday at TD Garden (time TBA).

It’s the franchises’ first playoff series since 2010 – when Boston dispatched Dwight Howard and Co. in the Eastern Conference finals before bowing out to the Lakers – and will feature a stark contrast in styles.

While the Celtics set an NBA record for made 3-pointers this season, the Magic ranked last in the NBA in both made threes and 3-point shooting percentage. Their offense as a whole was one of the league’s worst, ranking 27th in offensive rating, 28th in true shooting percentage, 29th in effective field-goal percentage and last in assists. Only the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets scored fewer points.

Orlando’s defense, however, is elite. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder posted a better defensive rating. The Magic allowed the fewest 3-pointers and second-chance points (per game and per 100 possessions) and led the league in blocks. They held opponents below 100 points 22 times, including Tuesday’s win over Atlanta.

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Boston owns the second-best offensive rating, fourth-best defensive rating and second-best net rating in the NBA, trailing only OKC.

The Celtics went 1-2 against the Magic during the regular season but were shorthanded in both of their defeats. In the first, at Orlando on Dec. 23, they ruled out Jayson Tatum due to illness shortly before tipoff and lost 108-104. In their next trip to the Kia Center last Wednesday, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla sat his top six players on the second night of a back-to-back, and Boston’s backups were blown out 96-76.

The Magic faced a full-strength Celtics team at TD Garden on Jan. 17 and were routed 121-94.

Boston’s starters, though, have yet to face Orlando’s top duo of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner together this season. Banchero missed the first meeting, and Wagner sat out the first two as both recovered from torn oblique muscles.

Banchero and Wagner – 6-foot-10 standouts who spearhead one of the NBA’s scrappiest, most physical rosters – averaged a combined 50.1 points per game during the regular season while also ranking first and second on their team in assists. No other Magic players – excluding Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner, who both suffered season-ending injuries – averaged more than 10 points per game.

The Magic got big nights from several of their supporting characters on Tuesday (26 points from Cole Anthony, 19 from Wendell Carter Jr., 16 from Anthony Black). Similar contributions from their depth players will be crucial if Jamahl Mosley’s club hopes to upset the reigning champs.

Boston is looking to become the NBA’s first repeat champion since 2018 – and the first Celtics team to win consecutive titles since 1969, Bill Russell’s final season.

“I feel like we’ve experienced that most of the year already,” veteran big man Al Horford said Tuesday. “We experienced everybody giving us their best shot and trying to do different things to combat us. I feel like playing 82 games, our team, we’ve seen a lot. I feel like we’re ready for this new chapter.”

The winner of Celtics-Magic will advance to face either the No. 3 seed New York Knicks or the No. 6 seed Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals.