Orlando Magic won’t point to schedule for Boston Celtics loss

The Orlando Magic returned to the Amway Center after a long road trip and showed the effects of the extended travel. They would not blame it for the loss.

Evan Fournier said he had never experienced the scheduling quirk the Orlando Magic faced Wednesday night. Never in his relatively short career had he come home from a long road trip with a back to back at home.

It is a strange scheduling quirk the NBA dealt the Magic after their first long road trip. It was something Orlando certainly felt it could handle after winning four of five games in the nine-day trip the team just completed. And the schedule to come will continue to get tougher.

There is no deep breath to take. The schedule is a constant onslaught, never ending and bringing games over and over again about every other day and sometimes more.

And after going on a nine-day, five-game road trip, the Magic came home to take on a difficult Boston Celtics team. It is almost like the Magic did not get a chance to enjoy being home before they got thrown right to the fire.

And that fire proved far too hot Wednesday in that triumphant return to the Amway Center. The Celtics routed the Magic 117-87, running circles around them offensively in the second half while smothering them defensively.

It was a performance that felt so out of character for the Magic considering how they have played the last week, let alone the last month, that there was only one explanation that seemed plausible.

Orlando had suffered the dreaded schedule loss every team faces. A moment where the hustle and bustle of the season catches up to everyone. The miles in the air, the nights in hotel rooms on the road and the barrage of physically battering games. It takes a toll — both physical and mental — on everyone. It eventually takes its toll and costs victories — one or two per season.

To a player, it amounts to an excuse. Perhaps a poor one.

“I don’t want to put it on fatigue,” Evan Fournier said. “That isn’t the problem. Our schedule is very tough. Coming off a back to back after a road trip. I’ve never done that in my five years. We’ve got to stay at it.”

Every team faces fatigue. Every team has to go through the rigors of the NBA schedule.

But as Magic coach Frank Vogel reminded, this is a “no-excuse team.” The Magic, like any team, are not going to pin any result on fatigue. It is an obstacle to fight through and overcome. Not one to blame for a defeat.

Undeniably, though, the Magic were a step slow. And, as the road trip wound down, Orlando’s basic identity on defense began to slip.

The Celtics took advantage of this over and over again. They attacked the paint and moved the ball with precision. They shot 59.5 percent from the floor overall and scored 36 points in the paint. Attacking relentlessly against a Magic defense that could not stop the initial penetration or rotate back to help the helper.

Doubling down on the seeming fatigue, the Magic’s offense looked plenty slow too. They were unable to break the physical grip the Celtics had over them. And they were unable to get free for their shots. They wore down as the game went on, losing the second half by 31 points in a 30-point defeat.

The Magic just looked out of gas. And when that happens the physical play and the mental toughness are the first to go.

“I thought we let them take the game to us and we didn’t respond,” Nikola Vucevic said. “They played really physical and got us out of our stuff. Offensively, they were getting whatever they wanted. We didn’t respond the right way to their physicality. We tried a little bit, but it was too late. They already got going and playing the way they wanted to.”

Nikola Vucevic added dealing with the rigorous NBA schedule is part of what they do. It is part of their job. Something every NBA player experiences. It certainly was not an excuse.

After all, the Magic’s offense was cruising through the first half, shooting 50 percent from the floor and draining eight 3-pointers. The Magic had the halftime lead and the lead throughout the first quarter.

Orlando was more than capable of hanging tough and winning this game. Especially if they could dig down and maintain the defense that has helped them rise in the NBA the last month.

Wednesday night, the Magic had a 122.2 defensive rating, their worst since the blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in early November. The loss to the Celtics marked the first time the Magic gave up 100 points in consecutive games since those blowout losses to the Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls in early November.

It would seem these last two games were the ones that were out of character for the Magic. Perhaps a sign of the team’s fatigue and inabilty to pay attention to detail.

Orlando is a good, turning some type of corner and able to play strong defense, but still a flawed team. Or just human enough to lose a game such as this.

The still-developing Magic just have to make sure they take that next step and return to the stellar defense they were playing on the road trip. The team has not exactly been consistent.

The beauty of the NBA is there is always another game. And Orlando will have another pair of games fast and furious. There is not enough time to be tired.

Not that anyone would complain.

The Magic take Thursday off as a day of rest before flying to Charlotte for a game Friday against the Charlotte Hornets. Then a home game Saturday against the Denver Nuggets, completing the only four games in five nights for the season.

The road does not get any easier. Orlando has to get back on track quickly — without practice time. The team will have to fight through the fatigue once again.

They have to fight the urge to run off that screen a little slower, messing up the timing of the play or failing to get open. They have to fight through the exhaustion pressure defense adds to those tired legs. The Magic have to fight the slow reaction time that can come from the long road journeys.

Orlando has another chance to show how capable the team is of succeeding and forging this identity.

Next: Grades: Boston Celtics 117, Orlando Magic 87

“I don’t think that should be an excuse as far as us coming off a back to back,” Bismack Biyombo. “Everyone is playing back to backs. There are a lot of teams winning back to backs. We have to be responsible and handle our business. We have to find a way to get back to playing our game, trust the next guy, do the right thing and set the right screens and get back to being the team we want to be.”