Boston @ Orlando preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 21, 2018 ) Orlando 103, Boston 95

The Boston Celtics are falling off the pace in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference and are coming off a pair of tough losses to fellow East playoff contenders. The Celtics will try to get back in the win column when they begin a stretch of eight of 10 on the road by visiting the lowly Orlando Magic on Friday.

Boston dropped a 99-97 decision to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday and went to double overtime against Washington at home on Wednesday before falling 125-124. The Celtics, who are comfortably ahead of the third-place Pacers in the standings, are more concerned with getting healthy in the last month before the start of the postseason and were missing Kyrie Irving (knee), Al Horford (illness), Jaylen Brown (concussion) and Marcus Smart (thumb) against the Wizards. The Magic are battling to stay out of the East basement and stayed just ahead of the Atlanta Hawks by snapping a five-game slide with a 126-117 win over Milwaukee on Wednesday. "What we do right now is very important on the basketball court," Orlando coach Frank Vogel told reporters. "It's a time of growth. We're giving some of our younger guys bigger-than-usual opportunities for them to grow, but it's also an important time for our veterans to grow within our system as well and develop habits. There's going to be carry over into next year and everything we do right now is building toward that."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Boston, FS Florida (Orlando)

ABOUT THE CELTICS (46-22): Missing two All-Stars among five rotation players on Wednesday gave some other players a chance to shine, and power forward Marcus Morris stood out with 31 points and nine rebounds. Morris was one of three players along with forward Jayson Tatum and point guard Terry Rozier to log at least 44 minutes in the setback. Veteran center Greg Monroe chipped in 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting off the bench and is shooting 70.6 percent from the floor in five games this month.

ABOUT THE MAGIC (21-48): Vogel implored his players to keep fighting and finish the season the right way after Orlando was embarrassed in a 108-72 loss at the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, a message the team took to heart. "Once we stepped on that court, we all played with pride and showed how much we wanted to win," veteran guard D.J. Augustin told the team's website. "All of the guys on our team want to win, want to do the right thing and have pride, so we bounced back. (Tuesday) was a rough game for us and it happens to everybody now and then. We just got ready for tonight and it showed." Augustin poured in 32 points in the win while Jonathon Simmons buried seven 3-pointers en route to a team-high 35 points.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Magic PF Aaron Gordon (concussion) missed the last four games and is questionable for Friday.

2. Horford is the only one of the Celtics' injured players expected back on Friday.

3. Boston took two of the first three meetings, including a 104-88 triumph at Orlando on Nov. 5.

PREDICTION: Celtics 113, Magic 106