BOSTON _ As Orlando Magic players approached tipoff on Friday, they said they needed to play with urgency, as if every possession mattered.
So there's no excuse for how they performed against the Celtics.
The Magic weren't just outplayed. They were outhustled.
The Celtics beat them to almost every loose ball, contested every rebound and sprinted on nearly every play.
No wonder the Magic lost 118-103 in a game far more lopsided than the final score indicated.
Consider what happened late in the first quarter with the Celtics already leading 33-24. The Celtics' Marcus Smart tossed a lob toward the hoop, and the pass clanged off the left side of the rim and headed toward Magic point guard D.J. Augustin.
Augustin alligator-armed the ball, seemingly taking it for granted that the ball would settle into his hands. But the Celtics' Jaylen Brown never gave up on the play. Hustling as if the Celtics were playing in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Brown ran full-speed toward Augustin and snatched the ball. A few seconds later, Brown sank a 3-pointer from the left corner, sending the announced crowd of 18,624 people inside TD Garden into a frenzy.
That sequence was emblematic of the Magic's collective failure. The team entered Friday's game mired in a six-game losing streak and should have raised its effort. Instead, the most Magic players sleepwalked through the first half even though the Celtics had the NBA's best record.
"We need to play at our best tonight," center Nikola Vucevic said as tipoff approached. "We can't have any stretches where we don't compete on both ends. They're a great team. They've been playing great."
And yet, the Magic failed to compete on defense. They didn't fight through screens and seemed late on rotations.
Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 30 points in 25 minutes. But Boston bench players such as Aron Baynes, Terry Rozier and Smart also outshone everyone on Orlando's roster.
The Celtics scored 73 first-half points, the highest point total by a Magic opponent in any half this season.
Magic coach Frank Vogel seemed to send a message to his players from that point forward.
Trailing 73-47, Vogel opened the third quarter with Jonathon Simmons at small forward instead of the regular starter at that position, Evan Fournier, even though Fournier wasn't hurt.
With 8:23 remaining in the third quarter, with Orlando down by 27 points, power forward Aaron Gordon launched a fadeaway jumper with seven seconds remaining on the shot clock. At the next timeout, Vogel replaced Gordon with Marreese Speights _ a move seemingly intended to discipline Gordon for forcing an ill-advised shot instead of passing the ball.
Vogel put Fournier and Gordon back into the game with 5:19 left in the third quarter.
The defeat extended Orlando's losing streak to seven games _ a streak that includes a 125-85 loss at home on Nov. 18 to the injury-depleted, poorly rested Utah Jazz, who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back. That loss should have embarrassed the Magic. But on Friday against the Celtics, the Magic played with just as little passion as they played with against the Jazz.
"I don't feel like guys are down," point guard Elfrid Payton said before tipoff Friday. "Guys are upset that we lost and we lost a few games in a row, but guys aren't down. The guys know that we're talented. We've just got to put it all together."
The Magic (8-11) didn't come close to doing that against the Celtics (17-3).
Vogel has tried to remain positive with his players, telling them that they have plenty of the season remaining to turn things around. Vogel sometimes rips into his players during timeouts and halftimes, but his diatribes haven't produced lasting results.
Before Friday, he resisted taking any action.
He may have to do so now.
Changes could be in the offing.
The way the Magic played Friday night, without heart and without hustle, what does Vogel have to lose?
