Doc Rivers, left, and owner Steve Ballmer, who was on hand for Wednesday’s victory at Orlando/Staff photo by David Crane

The Clippers entered Wednesday night’s game at Orlando with a record of 5-4 even though eight of those first nine games were at Staples Center. They were coming off an embarrassing 105-89 home loss to Chicago, a game in which the Clippers were out-scored 73-43 in the final two-plus quarters.

That’s why it was imperative the Clippers get off to a good start on their seven-game road trip against Orlando. After all, there are plenty of experts wondering what has been wrong with the Clippers, and you can bet some of the players themselves were wondering that same thing.

Following his team’s 114-90 victory over the Magic, Clippers coach Doc Rivers was asked if the victory was a confidence-builder for his team. His answer was interesting.

“I don’t know if we need a confidence booster, to be honest,” Rivers said. “We just need to keep working at it. It’s a long season. One game doesn’t make your season either way. We’ve just got to keep playing and getting better.”

Most of what he said makes sense. But to say his team might not have needed a confidence booster? Not buying that. It did need one.

The thing is, the Magic are not that good. A victory over Miami on Thursday would mean more.