The Orlando Magic received a wakeup call Sunday afternoon as Boston led from start to finish and dominated the first three quarters, leading by as much as 20 points in the third quarter. The Celtics still led by 13 points with 5 1/2 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before a frantic Magic rally pulled them as close as 2 points in the final seconds, but the Celtics were able to answer and hold off the Magic. Ray Allen led all scorers with 25 points while Vince Carter led the Magic with 23 points.

The Magic had quite possibly their worst quarter of the season in the first quarter, as they shot just 4 of 20, including 0 for 3 from long range, and committed 4 turnovers. The Celtics were held to under 40% shooting, though, in the first but led 22-14 going into the second thanks to the ineptness of the Magic. The Celtics extended their lead in the second to as much as 31-16 and were able to maintain a double digit lead for most of the quarter. The Magic were able to cut their deficit to single digits 41-32 at the half.

The Magic started quickly in the second half, cutting the Boston lead to 43-40 thanks to 8 points in two minutes by Jameer Nelson. It was 45-42 Boston when the Celtics went on a 20-3 tear in 5:24 to extend their lead to 65-45 with 3:49 remaining in the third quarter. The Celtics went into the fourth quarter with a seemingly comfortable 74-58 lead. The Celtics led by as much as 77-60 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game, and 88-75 with 5:34 remaining. The Celtics then went 5:22 without scoring as the Magic scored 10 points in a row to cut their deficit to 88-85 before Paul Pierce’s two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining. The Magic, trailing 90-85, then got a three point play the hard way as Vince Carter was fouled with 9.4 seconds remaining, made the first free throw, purposely missed the second with Nelson sneaking in for the tip to cut the Celtics’ lead to 90-88 with 8.4 seconds remaining. Two Ray Allen free throws with 6.1 seconds remaining made it a two-possession game and effectively ended the Magic comeback attempt.

Magic leading scorers

Vince Carter: 23 points (9 of 18 FGs, 5 of 6 FTs), 5 rebounds
Jameer Nelson: 20 points (8 of 18 FGs, 2 of 7 3 PT FGs), 9 rebounds
Dwight Howard: 13 points (3 of 10 FGs, 7 of 12 FTs), 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, 7 turnovers

Overall Game Statistics

FG%: BOS 44.6% (33 of 74) ORL 41.6% (32 of 77)
3 PT FG%: BOS 42.9% (6 of 14) ORL 22.7% (5 of 22)
FT%: BOS 76.9% (20 of 26) ORL 73.1% (19 of 26)
REB: ORL 45 (15 offensive) BOS 38 (7 offensive)
AST/TO: BOS 21/16 ORL 10/18
BENCH: BOS 25 ORL 24

Other game notes and stats:

-The Celtics had three players in double figures, led by Ray Allen with 25 points on 8 of 16 shooting with 7 rebounds; Paul Pierce added 22 points on just 8 shots, shooting 6 for 8, including 2 of 3 on threes, and 8 of 10 from the free throw line with 9 rebounds; and Rasheed Wallace added 13 points off the bench
-The Celtics’ Kevin Garnett added 8 points on just 4 of 14 shooting, but grabbed 11 rebounds, and PG Rajon Rondo scored 8 points with 8 assists
-J.J. Redick scored 9 points off the Magic bench to lead the reserves, while Marcin Gortat scored 6 points, all in the first half along with 5 rebounds
-The Magic starting frontcourt were held to a combined 6 of 24 shooting (Lewis and Barnes 3 of 14), including 0 for 7 on threes, for 21 points; The Celtics’ starting frontcourt combined for 34 points
-Lewis (o for 6) and Magic reserve Mickael Pietrus (1 for 4) combined to shoot 1 for 10 on three pointers
-Matt Barnes, who had a sore back coming into the game, played just 15 1/2 minutes and scored just 2 points along with 3 rebounds
-During the Celtics’ 20-3 run during the third quarter, the Magic were 1 of 7 on FGs, 1 of 4 on FTs with 4 turnovers during this span, while the Celtics shot 7 of 8 FGs and 4 of 4 on FTs
-When the Celtics went 5:22 without scoring late in the fourth quarter, they shot 0 for 5 FGs and 0 for 2 FTs with 3 turnovers, but the Magic shot just 4 of 10 during that span with 2 of 2 FTs

The Magic will try and pull even in the series Tuesday night.

Here is the complete recap and box score from nba.com.

Here is an article from cbssports.com detailing how rusty the Magic were for much of Game 1, and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy’s take on the game.

Orlando Magic Blog

Boston has taken control of the series thanks to 28 points from SF Paul Pierce and 25 points and 8 assists from PG Rajon Rondo. The Magic, led by Dwight Howard’s 30 points, trailed most of the game as another frantic fourth quarter comeback attempt fell just short.

The Magic got out to their first lead of the series early in the first quarter, leading 5-4 and 10-9, before Boston went on a 14-2 run to take a 23-12 lead with 4:43 remaining. The Magic then went on a 16-2 surge, sparked by J.J. Redick scoring 9 of those points, to take a 28-25 lead before the Celtics cut the Magic lead to 28-27 after one. The second quarter was close throughout, as the Celtics’ largest lead of the quarter coming at 41-36 and 53-48, but the Magic were able to close their deficit to 53-51 at the half. Dwight Howard was called for a Flagrant 1 foul after fouling Paul Pierce hard with 4:16 remaining in the half.

The Magic took the lead briefly in the third at 59-57, but then went 6:18 without a field goal and just one free throw as the Celtics went on a 13-1 run for their largest lead of the quarter at 70-60 with 4:49 left in the third. The Magic cut their deficit to single digits after three quarters 78-70. Rasheed Wallace’s three pointer to open the fourth gave the Celtics their largest lead of the game at 81-70. The Magic went on a 13-4 run to cut their deficit to 85-83 with 6:57 remaining. The Magic took their last lead of the game 90-89 on a Vince Carter jumper with
3:36 remaining, before the Celtics took the lead back for good 91-90. Redick was then called for a questionable offensive foul on the ensuing possession, with the Celtics then going ahead 93-90. A Jameer Nelson driving layup with 55.8 seconds remaining cut the Boston lead to 93-92, then two Pierce free throws gave Boston a 95-92 lead with 34.7 seconds remaining. Carter was fouled with 31.4 seconds left, but missed both free throws. Garnett missed a jumper with 8.9 seconds left, with Redick getting the rebound but advancing the ball instead of calling timeout right away, meaning the Magic had to inbound the ball at halfcourt instead of closer to their basket. A 35 foot running three pointer by Nelson barely grazed the outside of the net as time ran out on what may have been the last game ever at Amway Arena.

Magic leading scorers

Dwight Howard: 30 points (9 of 13 FGs, 12 of 17 FTs), 8 rebounds
Vince Carter: 16 points (5 of 15 FGs, 5 of 7 FTs), 3 steals
J.J. Redick (bench): 16 points (3 of 9 FGs, 2 of 3 3 PGs, 8 of 8 FTs), 5 rebounds, 4 assists

Overall Game Stats

FG%: BOS 45.9% (34 of 74) ORL 39.4% (28 of 71)
3 PT FG%: ORL 38.9% (7 of 18) BOS 33.3% (5 of 15)
FT%: BOS 78.6% (22 of 28) ORL 76.3% (29 of 38)
REB: BOS 38 (9 offensive) ORL 36 (10 offensive)
AST/TO: BOS 20/15 ORL 18/14
BENCH: ORL 26 BOS 18

Other game notes and stats:

-Four Celtics scored in double figures, led by Pierce’s 28 points on 8 of 16 FGs and 9 of 11 FTs along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists before fouling out late; Rondo scored 25 points on 10 of 16 FGs, and 5 of 6 FTs along with 8 assists; Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins each added 10 points
-The Celtics’ Ray Allen was held to 4 points on 1 of 6 shooting
-Glen Davis led the Celtics’ bench with 8 points and 6 rebounds
-Nelson (9 points), Rashard Lewis (5 points) and Matt Barnes (6 points) combined to score 20 points on 8 of 27 FGs, including 2 of 8 on threes for the Magic
-Other than Howard and Marcin Gortat (1 of 1 FGs), the seven other Magic players combined to shoot 18 of 57 from the field and no one else shot 50% or better
-Lewis attempted just 6 FGs in 41 minutes
-Lewis, Nelson, and Redick each had 4 assists
-The Celtics were called for 29 team fouls, with Pierce and Perkins fouling out, while the Magic were called for 25 team fouls with Howard and Carter with 4 fouls apiece

Here is the complete recap and box score from nba.com.

Orlando Magic Blog

The Orlando Magic are now halfway to making NBA history, thanks to a dominating effort that saw them break the game open in the fourth quarter. Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson led the way again for the Magic, with Howard scoring 21 points along with 10 rebounds and 5 blocks; Nelson led all scorers with 24 points along with 5 assists and 5 rebounds.

Gregg Doyel of cbssports.com writes how the physical play of Dwight Howard changed the game drastically in the Magic’s favor.

Chris Sheridan of espn.com writes that it’s a whole new series now.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes that the tone of the series has changed dramatically because Boston is battered, beleaguered, and no longer playing peerless ball.

Boston’s Kendrick Perkins was hit with two technical fouls in the first half, and will be suspended for Game 6 unless one of the technicals is rescinded.

Boston’s Glen “Big Baby” Davis suffered a concussion when hit with an accidental elbow from Howard late in the third quarter.

Here is the complete recap and box score from nba.com.

Orlando Magic Blog