Orlando forces Game 5 with 96-92 overtime win
BOSTON - Put away the brooms. Hold off on those "Beat L.A!" chants. The Boston Celtics still have some work to do before they can play for their second NBA title in three years.
BOSTON - Put away the brooms. Hold off on those "Beat L.A!" chants. The Boston Celtics still have some work to do before they can play for their second NBA title in three years.
Jameer Nelson made back-to-back three-pointers in overtime, Dwight Howard had 32 points and 16 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics, 96-92, in overtime Monday night to avoid a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference finals.
Dressing in the same locker room where the Flyers celebrated their comeback from a 3-0 deficit against the Boston Bruins in the NHL's East semifinals, the Magic avoided elimination, and sent the series back to Orlando for Game 5 on Wednesday night. The Bruins also lost Game 4 in overtime.
"Got to go back to Orlando," Howard said. "Hopefully, everybody back there will be ready. Have to keep the faith."
No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series.
Paul Pierce had 32 points and 11 rebounds, and Kevin Garnett had 14 points and 12 boards for Boston. Ray Allen hit consecutive three-pointers in overtime, but Pierce missed two tries in the final minute as the Celtics failed to complete the sweep.
Nelson finished with 23 points and nine assists for the defending Eastern Conference champions, who led by 10 points in the second quarter and were up 85-78 with 2:24 left in the fourth before Boston scored eight of the last nine points in regulation to force overtime at 86-all.
Neither team scored for the first 2:18 of the period before Nelson hit a three-pointer and then added another 43 seconds later. Allen made a trey and, after Howard dunked and drew a foul - but missed a free throw - Allen hit another three to make it 94-92.
Orlando's revival came just in time to avoid a Celtics walkover that had fans chanting "Beat L.A!" in the second half of Saturday's Boston victory.
The Lakers lead the Suns two games to one in the Western Conference finals.
Orlando 31 20 16 19 10 – 96
Boston 26 21 21 18 6 – 92
FG FT Reb
ORLANDO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Barnes 29:39 4-8 0-0 3-7 1 2 10
Lewis 41:55 4-10 3-4 1-5 3 4 13
Howard 43:10 13-19 6-14 5-16 0 4 32
Nelson 43:24 7-14 6-9 1-5 9 6 23
Carter 30:56 1-9 1-1 1-2 2 4 3
Bass 11:05 1-2 1-2 0-2 0 1 3
Redick 33:11 3-6 3-3 0-2 1 1 12
Gortat 9:50 0-0 0-0 0-3 0 2 0
JWilliams 8:57 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 1 0
Pietrus 12:54 0-4 0-0 0-1 1 2 0
Totals 265:01 33-74 20-33 11-43 19 27 96
Percentages: FG .446, FT .606. 3-Point Goals: 10-28, .357 (Redick 3-5, Nelson 3-6, Lewis 2-3, Barnes 2-6, J.Williams 0-2, Carter 0-3, Pietrus 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 19 (12 Pts). Blocked Shots: 5 (Howard 4, Pietrus). Turnovers: 19 (Nelson 6, Howard 4, Redick 4, Carter 3, Barnes, Gortat). Steals: 5 (Lewis 2, Redick 2, Carter). Technical Fouls: None.
FG FT Reb
BOSTON Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Pierce 46:39 11-25 10-13 2-11 3 3 32
Garnett 41:00 5-12 4-5 1-12 1 3 14
Perkins 26:41 0-2 3-4 1-4 2 3 3
Rondo 42:57 3-10 3-4 1-3 8 4 9
RAllen 45:46 7-12 3-4 0-5 1 3 22
TAllen 11:40 1-2 0-0 1-1 2 4 2
Finley 9:29 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Wallace 12:30 2-7 0-0 1-3 0 4 4
Davis 25:49 3-5 0-0 3-7 1 4 6
Robinson 2:10 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Daniels 0:19 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 265:00 32-76 23-30 10-47 19 30 92
Percentages: FG .421, FT .767. 3-Point Goals: 5-18, .278 (R.Allen 5-7, Davis 0-1, Wallace 0-4, Pierce 0-6). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 16 (15 Pts). Blocked Shots: 6 (Davis 2, Perkins 2, R.Allen, Pierce). Turnovers: 15 (Garnett 3, Rondo 3, R.Allen 2, Davis 2, Pierce 2, T.Allen, Perkins, Wallace). Steals: 10 (Rondo 3, R.Allen 2, Davis 2, Pierce 2, Garnett). Technical Fouls: Garnett, 9:22 third; Wallace, 10:31 fourth. A: 18,624 (18,624). T: 3:05. Officials: Scott Foster, Bob Delaney, Derrick Stafford.