By the end of the Orlando Magic’s 109-92 loss to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Wednesday, hands were on hips. Breathing was heavy. Reactions were slow. The play got lazy on both ends.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
| Orlando | 92 | 98.3 | 46.5 | 22.2 | 11.6 | 17.7 |
| Boston | 109 | 114.8 | 59.4 | 21.2 | 13.7 | 22.5 |
The Magic were just plain beat.
The Celtics took advantage of a tired Magic team, beating them to loose balls, making shots and executing. They had the opportunity to win and took it.
Orlando? The team was playing its 19th road game in the first 28 games of the season. The fatigue of the constant travel may have finally showed as the team lacked much energy.
Especially during the 39-point second half, Orlando began passing lazily or failing to rotate or overrotating. The defense was more or less non-existent anyway. Kelly Olynyk created the highlight of the game when he drove down the lane and threw down a two-handed jam over Kyle O’Quinn. No one stepped up and O’Quinn stepped in too deep and too late.
Boston shot 55.0 percent from the floor and made 7 of 19 3-pointers. The Celtics ran their stuff well and created dribble penetration to wreak havoc on the Magic’s defense. But Orlando was not providing a ton of resistance either.
Hardwood Houdini
The Celtics slowly pulled away, beginning to pour it on in the fourth quarter as the Magic just got more and more tired it seemed. If not tired, at least more lackadaisical and unfocused.
That is very uncharacteristic of this Magic team. The effort led Jacque Vaughn simply to say this was not the team’s best effort. There seemed to be a lot of long, determined faces after this one, knowing that this game was nowhere near the best the team could offer. Not anywhere near what the team wants at the end of the day.
Maybe this could be credited as a schedule loss. There are always one or two of those in every 82-game schedule. And the Magic have a four-game home stand and nine consecutive days without hopping on an airplane to look forward to.
Nobody wants to use that excuse though. Especially since it was only a five-point game entering the fourth quarter.
The Magic actually had a 10-point lead in the second quarter and looked poised to expand it with the Celtics starting the game off lazy with a ton of turnovers early in the game. The Magic were pushing the ball and doing a good job moving the ball and attacking.
Even then though, the hints that there were problems remained. The Celtics shot 56 percent in the first half and were able to come back and take control with Rajon Rondo controlling the pace of the game — 13 points, 15 rebounds for the game. The good shooting did not stop because it was the Magic’s defense giving up the good looks.
Boston finished with 25 assists. Orlando had just 17 and five in the second half.
The Magic just found everything difficult. Even trying to do the things that seemed so easy in the first half became difficult.
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Nikola Vucevic was a rock in the first quarter with 10 points. He finished with just 18 for the game and 13 rebounds. Vucevic showed a ton of patience and poise around the basket after a rough performance in Toronto. But even he succumbed to fatigue and rushed shots in the second half. Vaughn acknowledged Vucevic is still getting his wind back after missing six games.
Tobias Harris had 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting, getting to the line for eight free throw attempts. He generally did a good job forcing action. But, as is usually the case, the ball stopped with Harris. And he did not get involved enough to be a major factor.
As is typically the case when Orlando gets frustrated or tired, the team went to the bad habits offensively. Namely, the team relied heavily on one-on-one basketball and standing around.
The Celtics did a good job denying Vucevic the ball in the post and closing down the driving lane particularly at the top of the key. The Magic could not stop that same dribble penetration and the Celtics found the interior very open.
There just is not a great way to explain where the Magic were tonight. They all knew they could play better and just could not reach into the reserves.
The needed to refill its energy tanks. That time comes with this home stretch upcoming.
That does not excuse this game. This game was just a Beantown beatdown.