Magic down 5 players Sunday against Celtics

Fortune favors the earnest.

At least, that appears to be the case in the Eastern Conference playoff race, with the basketball gods smiling upon the Boston Celtics on Sunday. They'll take on an Orlando Magic team that's down five players, leaving them with just 10 healthy bodies.

The Celtics sit two games out of a playoff spot, an unlikely standing given the organization's larger goals of rebuilding. Getting a shorthanded Magic opponent on the road is a nice nod of appreciation to how hard the players on the turnstile Celtics roster, and particularly head coach Brad Stevens, have managed the season.

For the Magic, well, it's more of the same in a disappointing 2014-15 season.

They'll be without center Nikola Vucevic, who is missing his second consecutive game with a sore left ankle, and guards Evan Fournier (hip), Willie Green (Achilles), Luke Ridnour (hamstring) and Devyn Marble, who may miss the remainder of the season due to a detached retina.

Those players average a combined 53.2 points, 22.6 rebounds and nine assists and eat up 122 minutes, leaving the Magic woefully thin, particularly at the guard positions. This will likely mean additional time for Mo Harkless on the wing and Andrew Nicholson in the post, giving each the chance to carve out a larger role down the stretch of seasons that have largely been spent on the end of the bench.