The NBA schedule forced the Orlando Magic to play on back-to-back nights in different cities but head coach Stan Van Gundy has never been one to make excuses. And he steered clear of doing so following Wednesday’s ugly 102-93 loss at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

By describing his team as one that was badly outplayed, again, Van Gundy reminded us all of how the script is being written thus far during the early part of the young season.

“Hopefully that will end up being a good game for us and maybe we’ll start to learn something,” said Van Gundy afterwards. “The main thing to learn out of it is that we’ve got to be honest with ourselves – we’re not very good right now.”

That was precisely what J.J. Redick stood up and told his teammates in the locker room following the game, a point that Van Gundy wholeheartedly agreed with.

Coach thinks that the loss, which was much worse than the final score indicated, could be a good point for the team to restart and move forward from if only they could quit with the excuses. Until then though, Van Gundy will continue cautioning that his team is yet to be on the same level as Cleveland (5-3), Boston (8-1) and Miami (6-1) in the Eastern Conference.

“We’re not in the same league with those teams right now,” Van Gundy said.

Van Gundy’s placed blame on everyone – the players and coaches, including himself. He cites no defense, no rebounding and not a whole lot of effort from a team coming off of an appearance in the NBA Finals. For his part, Van Gundy battled with what he could have done differently with the Magic’s rotation after fouls and mismatches shaped a game where Orlando (6-3) trailed throughout.

“He’s not just putting it all on us,” said Jameer Nelson of his coach’s assessment. “Everybody as a team at this point has to stick together and just look in the mirror and see what we have to do individually to make our team better collectively.”

However that comes about is still to be determined, but a better effort on the defensive end will go a long way towards making those improvements become a reality.

“What I’m hoping is that some people will get embarrassed, actually embarrassed, and wake up and start doing something about it,” Van Gundy said.

“We don’t play hard enough, and that’s where it all starts. Until you’re going to try to guard, until you play hard enough, as hard as the team’s you’re playing against, then you’re going to be in trouble.”

– How we got here –

In Friday’s rematch against the Pistons the Magic never trailed before avenging their first loss of the season by getting past Detroit, 110-103, behind 22 points and 12 rebounds from Dwight Howard. Howard became the all-time leader in blocked shots in franchise history during the game to surpass Shaquille O’Neal on that list.

Orlando then went on the road and got smashed by Oklahoma City, 102-74, as they shot just under 37 percent from the field. The Magic would rebound though in Charlotte as they turned around and got a 93-81 win over the Bobcats.

– Pick a number, any number –

The Magic made just 4 of 18 shots from three-point land and only 60 percent of their free throws in the loss.

Dwight Howard attempted just three shots, made 5 of 12 free throws, scored 11 points and had 7 rebounds while Vince Carter made only 11 of 23 shots (2-for-7 from three) and tallied a team-high 29 points. Jameer Nelson scored 19 points, dished out five assists and had two steals.

– The other side of the stat sheet –

LeBron James went for 36 points and 8 rebounds in the win but it was Mo Williams who put in the eye-popping effort.

“As good as LeBron was we can win with him having a good night,” said Van Gundy.

But Williams went 9-for-9 shooting in the first half and finished the night with 28 points, 6 assists and was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.

In the return to Amway Arena for O’Neal, who weathered through “Shaq you suck” chants with over seven minutes to go in the second quarter, he made 4 of 8 shots and 50-percent of his free throws for 10 points while grabbing four rebounds and blocking two shots in 20 minutes of work.

– That’s what Van Gundy said –

On taking responsibility as a coach for the lack of defensive effort – “I’ve always thought that if your team’s not playing hard enough and not defending that that is a indictment of you as a coach,” said Van Gundy. “And that’s the way I look at it right now. I’m not getting the job done, my team’s not guarding.”

He later drove home the point by adding, “If I had to point to the worst thing with our team right now it’s coaching,” he said. “I want to be clear on that.”

– On deck for Orlando –

It’s Orlando’s turn to host their former teammates as the New Jersey Nets (0-8) come to town on Friday, Nov. 13 in what should be the return of Ryan Anderson from an ankle injury. Rematches against Charlotte (3-5) on Monday, in the return for Rashard Lewis from suspension after missing 10 games, and Oklahoma City (4-4) next Wednesday will follow. All games get started at 7 p.m. at Amway Arena.

The Magic play in front of another national audience once they head to Boston to take on the Celtics on Friday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.