ORLANDO, Fla. — Dwight Howard blocked a potential go-ahead layup by Paul Pierce with 3.8 seconds left, and the Orlando Magic clinched their second straight Southeast Division title with an 84-82 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
Howard had 24 points and 21 rebounds as the Magic (53-18) bumped Boston (54-19) by percentage points for second in the Eastern Conference behind Cleveland. Orlando remains five games back of Cleveland for the conference lead with 11 games left. The Magic took the division title with Atlanta’s loss to San Antonio.
Pierce hit a jumper to cut Orlando’s lead to 83-82 with 1:27 left, but the Celtics couldn’t make up the difference without Kevin Garnett, who was limited to 16 minutes as Boston continues to work him back in the lineup from a right knee strain. Pierce then missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it for Boston.
Rashard Lewis had 21 points, and Hedo Turkoglu added 13 points for the Magic, who nearly blew a 16-point lead before holding on for their fourth straight win and 11th in their past 13 games. The Magic were held to just 14 points in the final period.
Pierce had 26 points, and Ray Allen added 16 points for the Celtics, who snapped their four-game winning streak.
Fueled by their big man, Orlando finally started to shed that image of a team that can’t win the big game.
Howard followed up a rim-rocking, two-hand dunk with a 3-point play that put the Magic up 66-50 with 3:54 left in the third quarter. Garnett was called for the foul on the play and left the game for good, but not before huddling his teammates to give them a few choice words.
They would respond.
Pierce had six points during a furious 12-2 Celtics run that trimmed Orlando’s lead to six. Reaching to give his team some life, Howard dunked over Glen Davis on an alley-hoop from Turkoglu that ignited the Magic bench despite ending the third quarter with only a 70-62 lead.
With home-court advantage at stake for a potential second-round playoff series, the Celtics made health the priority.
Boston coach Doc Rivers again resisted the urge to play Garnett for a full game, limiting him to eight-minute spurts in the first and third quarters. Garnett finished with four points and eight rebounds in his fourth game back from injury, and Rivers has said he will continue to ease the All-Star forward back in the lineup.
Howard had a double-double by the first quarter.
Orlando’s do-it-all center had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the period, powering the Magic to a 25-19 lead after a quarter in which he had three dunks, soaring at times above the backboard. Howard started 6-for-9 shooting and took advantage of Garnett’s limited minutes to penetrate the paint at will. It was the fourth time this season Howard had a double-double in the first 12 minutes.
He had help.
The Magic’s free-shooting perimeter players went to work in the second quarter, with Lewis and Turkoglu hitting a 3-pointer to help Orlando go ahead by 12 points midway through the period. Lewis finished with 12 points in the quarter on 4-of-6 shooting.
Boston didn’t do much early to counter.
The Celtics shot just 36.8 percent from the floor in the first half, settling for tough shots without the help of Garnett’s inside presence. Boston was able to keep it close with some late free throws to cut Orlando’s lead to 47-39 at the half.
Notes: Magic coach Stan Van Gundy’s brother, Jeff, the former New
York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach, was part of the ESPN telecast. Stan Van Gundy joked before the game that he better not hear his brother be critical of his coaching. “When I watch him, he’s not critical of coaches. So if he’s critical of me, I will be (ticked) off,” Stan Van Gundy said, laughing. The brothers’ father, Bill, was also in attendance. … Both teams have one game left against first-place Cleveland. The Magic host the Cavaliers on April 3, and the Celtics play at Cleveland on April 12.
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