ORLANDO, Fla. _ Toughness takes different forms in the NBA.
Successful teams overcome physical and mental fatigue _ something the Orlando Magic failed to do Wednesday night.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back and their first game at Amway Center following a successful road trip, the Magic were outhustled and outplayed by the Boston Celtics, 117-87.
The Magic lacked intensity and sharpness on defense. The Celtics made 52 percent of their shots, and even that figure is misleading. The number would have been higher if Boston had not misfired on a bunch of open 3-point attempts.
Celtics guard Avery Bradley set the tone with his tenacious defense on Magic swingman Evan Fournier, and Bradley added a game-high 23 points, four rebounds and three assists. Al Horford, the Celtics' big free-agent acquisition, contributed 10 points, a game-high eight assists and two blocks.
Momentum can evaporate more quickly than it takes to develop.
The Magic (10-13) demonstrated that Wednesday night.
From Nov. 29 through Tuesday, the Magic compiled a 4-1 record in road games against the San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards. It was the Magic's most successful five-game road trip since Dec. 2008, when they went 4-1 on a West Coast swing.
"We want to play .500 basketball on the road, and we want to be near-dominant at home," Magic coach Frank Vogel said before tipoff Wednesday. "We haven't been near good enough at home, and we need to start showing our fans what we're capable of."
Magic players offered a similar theme immediately after their win in Washington on Tuesday evening. They said the successful road trip wouldn't mean much if they didn't follow up with wins back in Central Florida.
"Now we know where we are," center Bismack Biyombo said. "At least we can continue to play this way when we go back home. ... We've got to challenge ourself to find a way to play good at home, and then we'll be fine."
The game against the Celtics continued a stretch in which the Magic will play four games in five nights.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, Orlando players were sloppy against Boston, turning the ball over nine times in the first half.
The Celtics made only two of their 15 attempts from 3-point range in the first half. The Magic made eight of their 10 tries, with D.J. Augustin going 4 of 4 from beyond the arc.
The Magic seemed to sleep walk through the first several minutes of the third quarter, and the Celtics (13-9) made the most of their opportunity.
Several minutes into the period, the Magic lost Jae Crowder as he made a backdoor cut. Horford hurled him the ball, and Crowder scored on an easy dunk. The play extended Boston's lead to 59-52.
It only got worse for Orlando.
Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown banked in a shot off the glass as he absorbed a foul by Jodie Meeks. Brown made the ensuing free throw, putting the Celtics up 78-60 for their largest lead to that point.
The Magic's letdown was well underway.
The announced crowd of 17,009 _ a generous number, to be sure _ never provided much energy, even though the first half featured six ties and six lead changes. To be fair to the fans, the Magic didn't show much urgency, either.
The Magic's offense, which had showed improvement during its trip, including a 124-point night in Washington, made only 37 percent of its shot attempts against Boston.
The Magic's next few days will be tough, too.
They will travel to North Carolina to face the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night, and a game will follow less than 24 hours later against the Denver Nuggets at Amway Center.
