Celtics-Magic Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD
Posted Nov 24 2012 10:05PM

The Orlando Magic have found some life since returning to the Amway Center.

Their five-home homestand, however, is about to get a lot tougher Sunday night when the Boston Celtics come to town.

Orlando (5-7) seeks its third straight win on its home floor after rallying for a 108-104 victory over Cleveland on Friday.

"We're just trying to deal with this homestand," coach Jacque Vaughn said. "We've started out 2-0 and now we're trying to get another one."

After falling to 1-5 on the road with a loss to Atlanta on Monday, Orlando bounced back with consecutive wins over Detroit and Cleveland - teams with a combined 6-19 record - to improve to 4-2 at home.

The difference between the Magic's offensive production home and away has been staggering. They're averaging 95.3 points on 47.3 percent shooting at home, while totaling 85.0 on 40.1 percent on the road.

After sinking a season-high 11 from beyond the arc on Friday, Orlando is making 6.5 3-pointers per game at home compared to 4.2 in road contests.

Jameer Nelson and Arron Afflalo each hit four 3-pointers and finished with 22 and 19 points, respectively, against the Cavaliers.

Glen Davis faces his former team for the fourth time. After totaling 13 points on 5 of 20 from the field in his first two meetings against the Celtics, the Magic forward scored 27 on 12-of-16 shooting in his most recent matchup, a 102-98 road loss on April 18.

"We need to get as much games as possible and try to get back to .500 and compete for the chance to be somewhere in the postseason," said Davis, who spent his first four years with the Celtics. "And also for our confidence and our young guys to make sure that they can learn and understand what we have to do to take the win."

The Celtics (7-6) avoided a third straight loss with an impressive 108-100 victory over visiting Oklahoma City on Friday night.

Boston recorded only its second win against a team that had a winning record heading into Friday night.

"It's great to beat Oklahoma," coach Doc Rivers said. "They were in the finals last year, and they're the team to beat, I guess, in the West. But it was more how we played. We played with great force tonight."

The Magic have a chance to continue their success at home against Boston, which has allowed opponents to shoot 53.1 percent while yielding at least 100 points in three consecutive games.

The Celtics led the NBA in field-goal percentage defense (41.9) last season, but rank 27th this year (46.3).

Paul Pierce heads into this matchup with some confidence after scoring 22 of his season high-tying 27 points in the second half against the Thunder.

The veteran forward also has played well against the Magic, tallying 53 points and 24 rebounds in the last two meetings.

Rajon Rondo had 16 assists against Oklahoma City - his 36th straight game with at least 10. He's averaging a league-leading 13.5 per contest.

Boston has won five straight against Orlando, taking all three meetings last season despite Rondo sitting out each game because of wrist and back injuries.

Celtics outlast scrappy Magic 116-110 in OT

By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Posted Nov 25 2012 10:48PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) The Boston Celtics will be the first to admit that they aren't playing their best defensive basketball right now.

But having two of the league's best closers and one of its top point guards certainly helps with the rough patches.

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Paul Pierce added 23 points and Rajon Rondo was one rebound shy of a triple double with 15 points and 16 assists as the Boston Celtics outlasted the Orlando Magic 116-110 in overtime Sunday night.

The win was their second straight overall and sixth consecutive over the Magic.

Pierce had 14 points after halftime, and said that despite his team's recent struggles defensively, it was a much needed character building kind of victory.

"That's what it's all about," he said. "Finding a way to win. Not feeling sorry for ourselves late about giving up a pretty good lead. And just finding a way to grind it out. And that's what we did."

J.J. Redick scored 21 and Jameer Nelson had 20 for the Magic, whose loss snapped a two-game win streak.

Orlando led by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, but had 19 turnovers that led to 23 Celtics' points. It was the seventh straight game in which the Magic have had at least 15 turnovers. It was also the latest in a string of games in which their own miscues cost them a win.

"We had our chances. We definitely had our chances in overtime," Redick said. "We had a couple of bad possessions offensively. We'll learn from that. ...You can talk about experience or execution. They just executed better than us in the end."

After some early back-and-forth, the Celtics broke the overtime stalemate and took a 113-108 lead on a 3-pointer by Pierce, and layup by Rondo with 1:37 left.

Nelson scored on a driving layup to trim it to three and the Magic got the ball back after Rondo came up with air on a 21-footer as the shot clock wound down.

But Nelson fired up an off balance 3 on Orlando's ensuing touch, and following a foul, Garnett connected 1 of 2 free throws on the other end to make it 114-110 to lock up the victory.

"Overall I thought we didn't play very well. I thought they played great," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "They played hard. It's like I said before the game, if you don't come in this game and play them and don't think hard basketball, you're not going to win.

"Whether you have more talent or not, I thought that was a good lesson for our guys," Rivers said.

It was a disappointing finish for what was a masterful second half by Nelson in which he carried the Magic nearly singlehandedly with 17 points in the final two quarters and overtime.

"Overall we did a good job of playing against their veteran team," Nelson said. "We've got such a young team. There's a lot we can learn from this game."

Nelson scored the Magic's final eight points of the third quarter, including a fade away jumper to end the period to give the Magic a two-point edge entering the fourth.

The lead grew as big as seven on a 3-pointer by Arron Afflalo with just over eight minutes remaining.

The Celtics weren't deterred, though, and immediately went on a 10-2 run to take the lead back at 98-97.

Redick tied it again at 100 with a 3-pointer, but couldn't connect on a lob to Afflalo after chasing down a loose ball.

The Celtics returned the favor with a turnover of their own, leading to a driving layup by Glen Davis. Boston quickly tied it again, and collected a rebound on its next possession after a missed jumper by Nelson with 30.4 left.

After a Celtics' timeout, Garnett missed an open jumper just inside the free throw line, but the ball caromed off a Magic player giving them another chance.

But Pierce missed a leaning jumper at the buzzer to send it to overtime.

Magic coach Jacque Vaughn shared Nelson's take on the positives that can come out of Sunday's setback.

"This is a great experience for us," Vaughn said. "We had guys contribute off the bench. Josh (McRoberts) came in and played some great minutes for us in regulation and overtime. And it's a great sign to see guys wanting to play, waiting to play for each other, and contributing. So we'll put it all together."

The Celtics return home on Wednesday for a pair of home games, beginning with Brooklyn on Wednesday.

Though they still have several kinks to work out on the defensive end during their days off from game action, Garnett said he likes where his team is right now.

The numbers might say otherwise right now, but he said their identity is still rooted in defense.

"We're a defensive team that can score the basketball," Garnett said. "We always have been. As long as Doc's going to be here, that's how it's going to be."

NOTES: Rondo has now had at least 10 assists in 37 consecutive games. ... The Magic lost for the first time this season when they score 100 or more points.

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Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at www.twitter.com/khightower .

Notebook: Celtics 116, Magic 110

Ken Hornack, For NBA.com
Posted Sun Nov 25, 2012 10:11 PM - Updated Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:02 AM

THE FACTS: Paul Pierce atoned for missing a jump shot at the end of regulation by hitting a tie-breaking 3-pointer in overtime as the Boston Celtics defeated the Orlando Magic 116-110.

Kevin Garnett scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Celtics' (8-6) second overtime victory in as many tries this season. Pierce had 23 points, although his 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:10 to go in the extra session represented his only points after the third quarter.

The Magic (5-8), who were attempting to improve to 3-0 on a five-game homestand, got 21 points from J.J. Redick and a career-high 14 rebounds from Josh McRoberts off their bench.

THE STAT: Rajon Rondo handed out his 10th assist with 9:49 to go in the third quarter on a 3 by Pierce. That enabled Rondo to tie John Stockton for the second-longest streak of games in NBA history with 10 or more assists (37).

QUOTABLE: "He has great vision, great understanding of spacing and his timing is unbelievable. ... He sees the play a majority of the time before the defense does and guides his teammates to the right spots. It's pretty to watch when you see it."

-- Magic coach Jacque Vaughn on Rondo

TURNING POINT: Garnett scored eight points, all off assists from Rondo, in the final five minutes of regulation after the Celtics had fallen behind 97-91. His 20-footer with 1:21 remaining tied the score at 102, and it remained that way down the stretch.

QUOTABLE II: "Our execution won the game for us -- and it should, honestly. We're a veteran team."

-- Celtics coach Doc Rivers

HOT: For the second time in three nights, Jameer Nelson caught fire for the Magic in the third quarter. He was personally responsible for an 8-0 run over the final 1:23 that gave Orlando an 82-80 lead entering the fourth period.

NOT: Jeff Green, coming off a season-high 17-point outing Friday night against Oklahoma City, never got going offensively for Boston, missing all nine of his shots in 21 minutes off the bench.

GOOD MOVE: When Rondo was taken out after picking up his fourth foul, Nelson took advantage of being matched up against Leandro Barbosa to do much of his damage.

BAD MOVE: Glen Davis attempted an awkward-looking skyhook with the Magic down 111-108 in overtime. The Celtics grabbed the rebound resulting from the miss and got a fast-break layup from Rondo to increase their lead.

QUOTABLE III: "We put ourselves in a position to win, we just didn't close. It's not on any one person, but we have to go out there together and really be focused and execute. And that's what they did in the fourth quarter and overtime."

-- Jameer Nelson

IN THE ARENA: Tony Battie, the center who spent the bulk of his 15-year playing career with the Celtics and Magic, was seated courtside. Just a few seats down from him was another retired former Magic player, Jason Williams.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: At halftime, Rondo seemed halfway to his first triple-double of the season with 10 points, five rebounds and nine assists. He finished with 15 points and 16 assists but, even with an extra five minutes, fell short in rebounds with nine.

ROOKIE WATCH: Jared Sullinger played a sizeable portion of the third and fourth quarters for the Celtics and wound up with 11 points and six rebounds, all on the offensive end. For the Magic, Maurice Harkless made his third start in a row at small forward but had only five points and three rebounds in 15 minutes.

NOTABLE: The Celtics improved to 8-6 but are 6-2 with Brandon Bass and Jason Terry joining Pierce, Garnett and Rondo in the starting lineup. ... Less than seven minutes into the game, Vaughn had gone to a lineup consisting entirely of non-starters -- Redick, McRoberts, rookie Andrew Nicholson, Gustavo Ayon and ex-Celtic E'Twaun Moore. ... The Magic were 13-for-17 from the floor in the third quarter but only 6-for-19 in the fourth quarter and 3-for-13 in overtime.

UP NEXT: For the Celtics, Wednesday night vs. Brooklyn, Friday night vs. Portland, Saturday night @ Milwaukee. For the Magic, Wednesday night vs. San Antonio, Friday night vs. Brooklyn, Sunday night @ L.A. Lakers.

• Celtics: Joseph, Melo
• Magic: Harrington, Turkoglu

• Celtics: --
• Magic: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 10

• Arena: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
• Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #38 Michael Smith, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 17037
• Duration: 2:30