Orlando Magic bench incapable of bailing out starters

The Orlando Magic once again found itself outmatched, but this time it was the Boston Celtics bench mob that obliterated Orlando’s chances at victory.

62-35.

That was the margin of bench scoring in the Orlando Magic’s 113-94 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday night at TD Garden. Boston did enough damage with its first unit, but when its reserves too the court, the good times kept on rolling — for Boston, that is.

The Magic kept pace with the Celtics for the first half. Orlando still trailed 58-50 at the halfway point, but the game was very much in reach. That was the case even with Orlando having shot just 43 percent and having turned it over nine times.

But the writing was sort of on the wall that this one had the potential to get ugly.

The Celtics continually played passing lanes and in the end had tallied 14 fast-break points while forcing 16 Magic turnovers.

Much of the damage the Celtics inflicted was done by its second unit, as the Celtics had four players come off the bench to score in double figures. Instrumental in that group was Marcus Smart, a player the Magic had considered drafting before deciding to go with Aaron Gordon at No. 4 overall in the 2014 draft and were reportedly hot after him if he had stayed in the draft with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 Draft.

Smart’s defense was just part of a greater pestilence the Celtics unleashed on the Magic, and he had three steals and a block in 28 minutes, while forcing countless of other poor sequences due to his deflections and hustle.

Smart appeared to be the talent Orlando had so carefully considered, but he was doing his damage in green and white.

The former Oklahoma State guard averages 1.7 steals per game this season and Boston came into the game averaging 13.8 steals in its prior four contests. It is a team built on pestering defense.

The concept is not unlike what Orlando employed while it was still a winning team this season.

Boston also ranked No. 2 in the NBA in points per game in the last 10, scoring 112 per game and trailing only the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 116 points per game.

The 27-21 Celtics are a team the Magic try to keep in their sights, as a reasonable expectation for what this Magic team could become. But the progression toward a staunch defensive team that can still score buckets is something the Magic are only striving toward.

Boston is already there.

The Celtics worked the ball around well offensively and assisted on 28 of their 43 field goals. The ball movement Boston employed frequently wound up getting the team open triples, and Boston was 10 of 24 from 3-point range in the game.

All in all, this Celtics team is one to be feared when it can get its offense going, because its defense is so superb.

And yet, there were the Magic, on the other end trying desperately just to stay in the game. But Scott Skiles found so few answers, so few combinations that worked, and the frustration is now mounting at an all-time high level.

Skiles called for timeout at the 7:03 mark in the fourth quarter down 106-81, but it was not to regroup: He pulled the starters and raised a white flag. The Magic had been cooked.

Seven minutes later and the Magic had cut it to less than 20 as the horn sounded, but it was no real consolation. It was another lopsided loss with yet more mounting problems to solve as the Magic try to right the ship.

Orlando will face Boston again at the Amway Center on Sunday night as it tries to get something moving in the right direction.

The Magic had prided itself on depth prior to this game, but it got a real taste of what it looks like when a team is clicking through its full rotation of players and buys into a system completely.

The Celtics kept throwing fresh and active bodies at Orlando, and the Magic were a step slow the entire evening. Even in the first quarter when the Magic finished down 26-22, there was the disturbing fact the Magic were just 8 of 23 from the floor.

Related Story: Orlando Magic defense goes MIA against Boston Celtics

Projecting that ominous note over 48 minutes just resulted in yet another blowout.