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BOX SCORE

There’s not a lot of things the Orlando Magic are good at. The Magic struggle to score and they can’t play defense. If there’s one thing the Magic do well, it’s lose games.

Facing off against the Philadelphia 76ers, without the services of Jameer Nelson (bruised left forearm), J.J. Redick (sore right shoulder), Arron Afflalo (strained left calf), and DeQuan Jones (sore left ankle), Orlando was forced to play with a skeleton crew and the result was a 78-61 loss to the Sixers.

For the Magic, they tied a season-high with their 10th consecutive loss and have now lost 21 of their last 23 games. The 61 points were a season-low.

Playing short-handed, Orlando didn’t stand a chance in this game and that was evident in the first quarter as Philadelphia jumped out to a 22-6 lead. Not known as a fast-paced team, the Sixers used their transition offense (14 fast break points) to open up a double-digit lead against the Magic in the opening frame.

Nick “Swaggy P” Young led the charge for Philadelphia with his swaggy ways, scoring 10 of his 15 points in the first quarter — including a 360-degree dunk off a fast break.

Orlando tried to make a game of it, making things interesting by cutting their deficit to two points late in the second quarter. But you always got the sense that Philadelphia — with a considerable advantage in talent and depth — was in cruise control, knowing they could turn on the switch at any time and put the game away.

That switch turned on in the third quarter, as the Sixers effectively put the game away by increasing their lead to 16 points. Jrue Holiday was the architect of the scoring surge and he did it with his passing. He didn’t score a single point in the period, but that didn’t stop him from accounting for 13 of Philadelphia’s 18 points thanks to six assists.

On the flipside, the third quarter was a disaster for Orlando. Knowing that the Magic were lacking playmakers and shooters, the Sixers packed the paint and dared Orlando to beat them from the perimeter. The end result was an 11-point quarter for the Magic, in which they shot 4-for-19 from the floor (21.1 percent).

Needless to say, the final period was a merely formality, as Philadelphia cruised to a relatively easy victory over an overmatched opponent.

MVP (Most Valuable Player)

On a night where Nikola Vucevic played in Philadelphia for the first time since being traded to Orlando as part of the Dwight Howard blockbuster, his counterpart — Spencer Hawes — thoroughly outplayed him (21 points and 14 rebounds).

LVP (Least Valuable Player)

As a team, the Magic scored a season-low 61 points on 84 possessions and shot a season-low 33.8 percent from the floor. In other words, it was a trainwreck performance.

Defining Moment

After relinquishing a double-digit lead in the first half, the Sixers went on a 14-1 run midway through the third quarter to reopen their double-digit lead and put Orlando out of their misery.

Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images

BOX SCORE

Going into this game, it didn’t seem very likely that the Magic would have a shot. They were without three starters (Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo, and Glen Davis) and the Bucks’ depth looked to be too much for the inexperienced portion of Orlando’s roster that was healthy to handle. And that’s pretty much exactly how it played out.

The Magic looked lethargic from the get-go, falling behind to the Bucks and never really climbing back into it. The nine-point final margin of victory for Milwaukee is about indicative of how the game went. Orlando stayed in it just enough to not be blown out, but never really made a serious run. They’d make a shot or two and the Bucks would respond with a run of their own, halting any momentum the Magic may have been building. That’s, more or less, how it went for 48 minutes.

There were some silver linings for the Magic. Maurice Harkless had his best game of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds in a rare start. Kyle O’Quinn also made the case for more minutes, scoring nine points in 11 minutes on an efficient 4-for-7 shooting. Nikola Vucevic was outstanding, finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

But without Jameer Nelson, E’Twaun Moore was forced to start at point guard, which is usually a recipe for disaster. He had an atrocious shooting night (3-for-14 from the floor) and had four turnovers. Ish Smith wasn’t much better.

Even the Magic’s best player and most reliable distributor outside of Nelson, J.J. Redick, had an off night offensively — and this was before a shoulder injury took him out of the game late. Hopefully that’s nothing too serious because the last thing the Magic need right now is another injury to a key player (as well as their best trade chip).

The Magic were simply outplayed by the Bucks at both ends of the floor from start to finish. That happens to every team, but it happens more often to a team like the Magic and especially when they’re playing without three of their steadiest veteran scorers.

MVP (Most Valuable Player)

Maurice Harkless had something of a breakout game in a losing effort, notching his first career double-double and adding four steals.

X-Factor

The Magic were playing extremely shorthanded, being without Jameer Nelson (bruised left forearm), Glen Davis (fractured left foot), and Arron Afflalo (strained left calf). Nelson’s absence in particular was felt, as E’Twaun Moore is not a point guard by any means.

That Was … Potentially Scary

J.J. Redick suffered a shoulder injury late and will miss at least the Magic’s next game, just one of a myriad of injuries to key players the Magic have been dealing with lately.

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BOX SCORE

With Glen Davis sidelined with a fractured left foot and Arron Afflalo out with a strained left calf, it was expected that the Orlando Magic — one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA — would struggle mightily on offense against the Boston Celtics. Especially when you consider the fact that the Celtics ranked 8th in Defensive Rating heading into Friday’s game.

Lo and behold, that’s what happened, as the Magic scored 35 points in the first half and struggled to generate points in their half-court offense. Nikola Vucevic, J.J. Redick, and Andrew Nicholson were the only players for Orlando to have any kind of success offensively.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Magic, it did. Late in the second quarter, Jameer Nelson suffered a bruised left forearm on a routine play. Paul Pierce grabbed a rebound and Nelson tried to strip the ball. While that was happening, Pierce’s elbow collided into Nelson’s left arm. Nelson, in pain, had to come out of the game and didn’t play in the second half.

In a way, Orlando was lucky to have only been down by 11 points in the first half.

In the second half, the Magic — without Davis, Afflalo, and Nelson — kept fighting and were able to cut their deficit to just three points midway through the third quarter.

But the Celtics were able to seize control of the game and go on a 15-5 run to end the period to extend their lead to 12. In the fourth quarter, Boston’s lead ballooned to as many as 23 points before Orlando went on a late run to make the final score respectable.

With the defeat, the Magic lost their eighth consecutive game and for the 19th time over their last 21 games.

At a certain point, with the losses piling up and the trade deadline approaching, you have to wonder if it’s time for Orlando to blow it up and focus on developing the young players — especially guys like Maurice Harkless, Andrew Nicholson, and Kyle O’Quinn.

Redick’s name has been throw around in trade rumors and when you consider his cap-friendly contract, as well as the fact that he’s having arguably the best season of his career, you have to imagine that general manager Rob Hennigan is thinking long and hard about what Redick might fetch in a trade.

With every loss, you have to wonder if now is the time for the Magic to position themselves fully for the future.

MVP (Most Valuable Player)

Jeff Green came off the bench for Boston and made a big impact with his athleticism. No play signified that more than in the third quarter when he pump-faked Hedo Turkoglu and finished with a thunderous dunk.

That Was … Anti-Climactic

It’s safe to say, with Orlando continuing to lose, that this is what the Magic fanbase expected when Dwight Howard and Ryan Anderson were traded and Stan Van Gundy was fired.