BOSTON — On a possession two minutes into the first quarter Friday night, the Boston Celtics didn’t even attempt to disguise their intentions against the Orlando Magic. With a small forward guarding Kristaps Porziņģis, Boston went straight into a pick-and-roll with Derrick White and his 7-foot-2 teammate.

There have been many perplexing aspects of the Celtics struggles over the past month but perhaps none more than Boston’s starting five woes. The grouping entered the Magic game with a -11.8 net rating on the year in 147 minutes,