Magic-Celtics Preview

By BRETT HUSTON
Posted Apr 18 2012 1:06AM

There's a reasonable chance the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics could find themselves matched up in the first round of the playoffs. Based on the teams' recent history, that's a series Orlando probably wants no part of.

Perhaps the Magic's two most humiliating losses of the season came four days apart to Boston, results they'll surely remember as they try to avoid a fifth consecutive loss to the Celtics on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

Orlando was off to an 11-4 start when it visited Boston on Jan. 23, but was held to a franchise-low in points - scoring only 20 after halftime - in an 87-56 defeat.

It had a chance for revenge three days later at home, but suffered perhaps an even more embarrassing loss. Up 27 shortly before the break, the Magic were outscored 54-25 after the intermission as the Celtics (36-26) won 91-83.

Orlando lost both games despite not having to deal with Rajon Rondo or Ray Allen, the latter of whom has missed five straight games and 11 of 16 with a sore right ankle. Boston went 11 of 21 from 3-point range Tuesday night without its sharpshooter, but New York hit 19 of 32 to spoil Paul Pierce's season-high 43 points in a 118-110 win.

The Celtics came into the night limiting opponents to a league-worst 29.7 percent from 3-point range. The 19 3s were nine more than Boston had allowed in a game this season.

"We didn't defend the 3 at all tonight," Pierce said. "We dug ourselves a huge hole that we couldn't climb out of."

The Celtics could have wrapped up the Atlantic Division title by beating the Knicks, but can do it with one more victory and a New York loss. Winning the Atlantic would guarantee Boston a top-four seed, and that would mean a potential first-round matchup with Orlando.

Should that happen, the Magic will need to do a better job containing Pierce, who's averaged 21.5 points and 8.5 assists in the two victories. He accounted for more offense than Orlando (36-25) did in the wild second-half comeback in January, posting 19 points and seven assists after the break.

It's unlikely Allen will return Wednesday - he said prior to Tuesday's game he's having trouble moving sideways - and Boston got a scare from Rondo against the Knicks. The three-time All-Star landed hard on his back going for a rebound in the third quarter, but remained in the game after spending a few minutes down on the court.

Rondo finished with 13 assists as the Celtics fell to 19-4 when he has that many.

Rondo had his wrist and back taped in the locker room following the win, and coach Doc Rivers didn't provide an update on whether he'd play Wednesday.

Even if he can go, Boston may have trouble if it can't defend the 3-point line better. The Magic hit 11 of 18 on Monday in a 113-100 win over Philadelphia as Ryan Anderson finished with 26 points and 16 boards with Dwight Howard out.

"We're just playing ball," guard Jason Richardson said. "When he gets back it'll be great. We definitely want him back because we know how dominant he is on both ends of the floor. But right now we're just going with whoever is on the floor."

Orlando improved to a remarkable 23-3 when it knocks down 40 percent of its 3s, but the Celtics have limited their open looks. The Magic are shooting 21.1 percent from beyond the arc in their last three games against Boston, hitting a total of 12 3s.

Anderson has averaged 8.0 points on 33.3 percent shooting in those contests.

Pierce leads Celtics to 102-98 win over Magic

By HOWARD ULMAN
Posted Apr 19 2012 2:10AM

BOSTON (AP) Need a big basket? Give the ball to Paul Pierce. Sharp passes and solid foul shooting? He provides that, too.

Pierce did all that for the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, expanding his role on an injury-depleted lineup and lifting them to a 102-98 win over the Orlando Magic that clinched the Atlantic Division title.

It came one night after he scored 43 points.

"I wanted to just be aggressive, looking to score, and when they collapse I just wanted to make the easy pass," said Pierce, who had 29 points and a career-high 14 assists with Rajon Rondo sidelined with a sore lower back. "I just wanted to make the right plays when the ball's in my hand down the stretch."

He did that with 7.6 seconds left with a 16-footer from the right elbow. He sank it even though he slipped, giving the Celtics a 100-96 lead as the 24-second clock was about to expire.

"This is unscripted," Pierce said. "I'm not thinking. `Woo, I slipped let me go take the shot.' It's just something that happens. You play off instincts."

For the second straight night he drove hard to the basket, repeatedly drawing fouls. He sank 17-of-18 free throws in a 118-110 loss to the New York Knicks on Tuesday night then made 11 of 12 against the Magic.

"That's huge for our team," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "It allows us to set our defense and it's something that we really haven't done well this year."

Boston (37-26) has a 3 1-2-game lead over New York (33-29). Both can end the regular season tied at 37-29, but the Celtics would finish first with a better conference record, the second tiebreaker behind head-to-head matchups.

After the game, Rivers said he told his players, "We were two games under .500 at the All-Star break and the fact that you did it and did it this early I think is very impressive."

Division winners are guaranteed to be seeded no worse than fourth in the conference and wouldn't have to face Chicago or Miami in the first round.

Avery Bradley started for Rondo and finished with 23 points. Brandon Bass added 21.

Glen Davis, starting in place of Dwight Howard, led Orlando with 27 points. Jameer Nelson had 19 points and nine assists.

"There's been multiple games where we've been down and we just went away," Davis said. "I like how we fought today but, at the end of the day, we need to win the game."

Howard missed his sixth consecutive game because of a herniated disc and the Magic missed his defense as the Celtics hit 54.3 percent of their shots.

"Our effort was great. We just can't guard anybody," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Our 3-point shooting again was horrendous. We had the one possession to tie in (the last) two minutes and we missed two open ones."

The Magic cut a 91-78 lead to 91-90 on a layup by Nelson with 3:04 left. But they came no closer as Pierce and Ryan Anderson traded one free throw each. Pierce hit a short jumper in the lane, Bass caught Pierce's shot that missed the rim and put in an easy layup and Kevin Garnett made a free throw for a 98-92 lead with 1:31 remaining.

But Orlando, sixth in the Eastern Conference at 36-26, fought back on baskets by J.J. Redick and Davis, making it 98-96 with 31 seconds to play.

Pierce then hit his 16-footer. After a basket by Nelson, Pierce sealed the victory with two free throws.

"Paul is not flashy," Rivers said. "I don't even know how Paul scores sometimes. He doesn't look like he's that quick but he is. He's got a gift. He's a professional scorer."

The Celtics played without their starting backcourt. Point guard Rondo, who has at least 10 assists in each of his last 23 games, had a sore lower back after landing hard on it Tuesday night. Pierce also fell hard in the game, hurting his elbow but said he knew Wednesday morning he would play. Ray Allen missed his sixth straight game with a right ankle injury.

Pierce tied his career high with his 13th assist with 4:37 still left in the third quarter. He got his 14th with 9.5 seconds left in the period, feeding Bass for a jumper from the left corner.

Trailing 67-59, Orlando scored the next nine points to take its first lead since 6-5. It stayed on top 70-69 before the Celtics finished the third quarter with a 10-0 run that gave them a 79-70 lead. Bass scored six points and Pierce had four in that comeback.

The Celtics led 33-22 after one quarter, starting the game with nine baskets on their first 11 shots. But the Magic cut that to 55-51 at halftime with the help of their 3-point baskets - three by Nelson and one by J.J. Redick.

Notes: Orlando outrebounded Boston 51-37. ... The Celtics observed the 50th anniversary of the fifth of their 17 world championships with a halftime ceremony. Seven members of the team that beat the Los Angeles Lakers 110-107 in overtime to clinch the title were introduced - Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Sam Jones, Tom Sanders, Jim Loscutoff and Frank Ramsey. ...Davis, traded by Boston before the season for Bass, scored Orlando's first three baskets.

Notebook: Celtics 102, Magic 98

Posted Thursday April 19, 2012 12:50AM

By Brian Robb, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Paul Pierce scored 29 points and dished out a career-high 14 assists as the Boston Celtics clinched their fifth straight Atlantic Division title with a 102-98 win over the Orlando Magic. Avery Bradley also added a career-high 23 points for the short-handed hosts, as they played without Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus due to injury. Glen Davis posted 27 points and seven rebounds against his former teammates, helping to push the undermanned Magic to within a point of Boston late, after trailing by as many as 13 points. Pierce fought back however, scoring seven points in the final three minutes to hold off Orlando, and enable Boston to sweep the season series 3-0.

QUOTABLE: "I'm not about to go pop some champagne bottles or anything like that. I know they do in baseball. I mean it is a good accomplishment. The guys should recognize where we came from to what we are today. It's a good accomplishment I guess, but all we care about around here is a championship banner."
-- Paul Pierce on winning the Atlantic Division

THE STAT: Bradley continues to excel offensively, scoring in double digits for his fifth straight game. After hitting 10 of his 14 field-goal attempts, Bradley is now also shooting a scorching 60 percent from the field over that five-game stretch.

TURNING POINT: Leading by just two with 31 seconds on the clock, Boston turned to their captain in Pierce to seal the win. The All-Star small forward did not disappoint, drilling a 17-foot jumper with seven seconds remaining as the shot clock expired to push the lead to four, putting the Magic away for good.

QUOTABLE II: "Offensively we are playing better. I think we are staying together, and we are fighting hard. We are not able to stop anybody right now.
-- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy

HOT: Davis -- The big man has thrived since being inserted into the starting lineup in the month of April for the Magic and the trend continued tonight as the former Celtic hit 12 of his 16 shots. Davis is averaging a double-double with 17.1 points and 10.3 rebounds since the switch over his past nine games.

NOT: Orlando's 3-point shooting -- The Magic shoot more from downtown than any team in the NBA, but struggled from deep Wednesday night, hitting just 2-for-13 attempts in the second half.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Pierce -- You couldn't ask for a better all-around line from a small forward, as in addition to his 29 points and 14 assists, the C's captain grabbed five rebounds, had two steals and made 11-for-12 free-throw attempts.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Sanders, Jim Loscutoff, Tom Heinsohn, Sam Jones, and Frank Ramsey were all in attendance as the Celtics honored the 50th anniversary of their 1962 championship team in a halftime ceremony.

NOTABLE: Sasha Pavlovic started in place of Rondo at guard. Rivers does not expect Rondo (back), Allen (ankle) or Pietrus (knee) to play in Boston's next game against Atlanta Friday night. Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu also missed the game for the Magic and continue to rehab their respective injuries in Florida. Boston shot 62.2 percent in the first half. With the win, the Celtics moved a ½ game ahead of Orlando in the Eastern Conference and are just ½ game back of Atlanta in the race for home court advantage in the first round of the postseason.

UP NEXT: For the Magic, Saturday @ Utah, Sunday @ Denver, Wednesday vs. Charlotte. For the Celtics, Friday @ Atlanta, Tuesday vs. Miami, Thursday vs. Milwaukee.

• Magic: Howard, Turkoglu
• Celtics: O'Neal, Pietrus

• Magic: Anderson, Nelson
• Celtics: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: TD Garden, Boston, MA
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #11 Derrick Collins, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 18624
• Duration: 2:30