Celtics 94, Magic 96

Game Highlights

Photo of the Game

Kevin Garnett and Jameer Nelson battle for a loose ball during Thursday night's game in Orlando.
Fernando Medina/NBAE/Getty

By Marc D'Amico
Celtics.com

Key Moment

The Boston Celtics briefly held on to 16-point lead in the second half of tonight's game, but it wasn't enough to hold off the Orlando Magic. For a few moments, though, it looked like the Celtics would somehow escape from Amway Arena with a win.

After Dwight Howard put the Magic up by two points with a layup at the 2:15 mark of the fourth quarter, Paul Pierce made an appearance at the offensive end. He had struggled all night long, but as usual, he was ready to come through in the clutch. He was the trailer on a fast break and made eye contact with Rajon Rondo, who had the ball, as he came down court. Rondo eventually dished it to Pierce and he drained a 3-pointer to put Boston ahead by one. Then, after a spectacular defensive play by Rasheed Wallace and Rondo to regain possession, Rondo scored a driving layup that put the Celtics up by three with only 51 seconds left in the game.

All the C's needed was a stop, and it looked like the game would be theirs. But they didn't get it, because J.J. Redick decided to make one of the biggest shots of his NBA career.

Redick came along the baseline from the left side of the court to the right, making his way around three picks in the process. He caught the ball on the right wing and, because of all of the picks that were set, Kevin Garnett and Wallace were the two players that were forced to defend him. The problem is, neither made that commitment. When both Garnett and Wallace decided not to attack Redick and take away his open space, Redick decided to pull up -- from at least 28 feet. His shot was pure, and the game was tied up at 94-94.

On the ensuing Celtics possession, Ray Allen, who had been on fire all night long, misfired on a 3-pointer from the top of the key, giving Orlando an opportunity to take the final shot of the game.

Out of a timeout where Stan Van Gundy drew up a potential game-winning play, Pierce played some of the best on-ball defense that he has ever shown, this time against Vince Carter. Jason Williams was unable to get the ball to Carter with any open space, )and so Rashard Lewis wound up taking a pass on the right wing (in the same area that Redick had nailed his shot). Lewis took the pass with about five seconds remaining on the shot clock and it looked like he was going to need to force up a shot. Instead, he blew by Garnett on the baseline and, as a result of a slow defensive rotation from Wallace on the weak side, made the game-winning layup with 1.3 seconds remaiing on the closk..

Key Box Score Line

Ray Allen finally got himself out of a shooting funk tonight by leading the team with 20 points on an impressive 8-of-12 shooting from the floor. He was unstoppable in the first half, making his first seven field goal attempts, including three 3-pointers. He also chipped in with three assists, three rebounds and two blocked shots.

Box Score Nuggets

• Boston led by 11 heading into the final period.
• Orlando had only one assist at halftime, a new franchise low.
• Dwight Howard was a key in the comeback and finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
• Rajon Rondo finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
• Rasheed Wallace scored 17 points off the bench, but missed a game-winning 3-pointer at the final buzzer.
• Orlando had only three fast break points.
• Boston had only 24 points in the paint to Orlando's 38.
• The C's were outrebounded 47-32, including 17 offensive boards for Orlando.
• Rashard Lewis scored a game-high 23 points for Orlando.
• Jameer Nelson scored 10 points in a row for Orlando in the first quarter but finished with only 12 points in the game.
• Orlando had only eight assists in the game compared to Boston's 22.
• The Celtics shot 12-of-26 from 3-point range.
• Orlando took 40 free throw attempts, while Boston took only 18.

Quote of the Night

Ray Allen on how tough this loss was: "We are kicking ourselves in the butt over this thing because we felt like we gave this away. There are so many things that we didn't do."