ORLANDO, Fla. _ The Boston Celtics opened Sunday with the best defense in the NBA.
Patience and ball movement are necessary against a cohesive opponent like that.
The Orlando Magic didn't have enough of either.
Limited by injuries to just one true point guard, the Magic lost to the Celtics 104-88 at Amway Center.
It was the first time this season Orlando lost two games in a row.
Orlando made only 36.3 percent of its shots, including just six of its 29 attempts from deep.
Both starting swingmen struggled. Evan Fournier, arguably the team's MVP during its surprising start, went 2 of 14 from the field and finished with six points. Terrence Ross made only 2 of his 12 shot attempts and scored nine points.
Boston won its eighth consecutive game after an 0-2 start.
With Elfrid Payton and D.J. Augustin out with injuries, Orlando coach Frank Vogel started Jonathon Simmons at point guard even though Simmons is a natural swingman. Vogel wanted Simmons to defend the Celtics' superstar point guard, Kyrie Irving.
The plan worked _ for as long as Simmons stayed in the game.
He picked up two fouls early in the first quarter and another midway through the second quarter, limiting him to seven minutes of playing time in the first half.
Simmons played just 21 minutes. In that time, he scored 14 points with one assist.
The Magic (6-4) didn't receive enough production from their bench.
The Celtics led 22-20 at the start of the second quarter but opened a 31-26 lead when the Magic had a lineup of Shelvin Mack, Ross, Mario Hezonja, Jonathan Isaac and Bismack Biyombo in the game and then a 35-26 lead after Vogel subbed in Simmons for Mack.
The second unit, with Ross and even Simmons, just didn't have enough offensive punch.
Down by 11 points at halftime, the Magic's starters cut the deficit midway through the third quarter to 69-65 on a layup by Aaron Gordon.
On Boston's next trip down the court, Al Horford collected an offensive rebound off a miss by Irving.
A few seconds later, Irving hurled a pass to Jaylen Brown in the right corner, and Brown drained a 3-pointer.
