Kyrie Irving is eager to see how these Celtics handle their first taste of adversity

Based on the way Brad Stevens spoke in his postgame press conference following a 103-95 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, you would have never guessed the Celtics had won seven games in a row as recently as last week.

“We haven’t played well consistently on both ends for a while now,” Stevens declared after the Celtics dropped three straight games for the first time all season.

The head coach has been harsh on his squad all year long despite their status as the best team in the Eastern Conference but he’s certainly on the ball with Sunday's declaration. Losing to the Magic, one of the worst teams in the NBA this year was a perfect encapsulation of the Celtics’ numerous problems at the moment. Boston can’t seem to play well at both ends of the floor right now simultaneously and that type of inconsistency is costing this team winnable games.

Kyrie Irving was the one consistent Celtic on the floor on Sunday (game-high 40 points) and was eager to see how this largely young group responds in the first significant patch of on-court turmoil they’ve seen this season since the first week of the year.

“I mean -- you gotta hit some adversity,” Irving explained. “We have to hit something, like we need it as a team. There’s a lot more adversity down the road and we got to be able to weather the storm no matter what. Whether you’re playing extremely well, and sometimes that may result in a loss or whether you’re not necessarily making the amount of the shots you would like or doing the things at an optimum level that you would like.

“That’s part of the game and learning one another and being able to figure out how do you respond from that. Us as a group, as we’ve come in the last four months or five months, it’s new. We need to hit something like this in order for us to grow. It’s part of the game. It’s part of being on a team, part of being a professional on any team, in any environment, you gotta have stuff like this where you gotta figure it out.”

The offensive struggles for this group have already been well documented but signs of defensive weakness also emerged on Sunday with true bigs like Aron Baynes (illness) and Daniel Theis seeing limited minutes. With Stevens staying small, the paint defense showed serious holes, as Boston allowed a season-high 62 points in that area.

“Today was not about the offensive side,” Stevens said. “It was about – they shot – I felt like they were shooting layups for the most part during tonight, even the ones they missed late.”

While the Celtics were a no-show on defense until late in the fourth quarter, the Celtics’ bench remains a black hole that the team is unable to overcome at the moment. Terry Rozier is in a massive slump (19 percent shooting from field in his last three games) while Marcus Smart’s attempted playmaking is leading to constant miscues (14 turnovers in last four games) that is placing a heavier onus on the starting lineup to score. The Magic second unit wiped the floor with the Celtics in the first half on Sunday and left Stevens looking for answers for much of the afternoon against one of the NBA’s worst teams.

“In my eyes, I feel like we’re fighting for our lives right now,” Al Horford said after the defeat. “Once we get into the games we have to understand teams are coming for us. I felt like we’ve handled it OK throughout the season, but it’s even more evident now, so we have to do a good job of making sure we’re bringing the fire and they’re not bringing it to us.”

With the team’s longest road trip of the season looming over the next eight days, decision time is approaching for the front office as it evaluates this group. The youngsters have exceeded expectations for the better part of the first 47 games but the vulnerabilities up and down the roster are becoming more apparent. Does this group have enough poise and depth to withstand the challenge? Or is an 0-3 homestand a sign that this roster will be dropping back to earth in the East standings in the face of some tough road environments. We’ll start to get some answers at the Staples Center on Tuesday night.