Turkoglu Lifts Magic Over C's at Buzzer

[January 28, 2008]  ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Hedo Turkoglu nailed an off-balance 3-pointer with time expiring to lift the Orlando Magic to a 96-93 victory over the Kevin Garnett-less Boston Celtics on Sunday.

It was Orlando's second home win over Boston this season, and the Celtics' first game without Garnett, who has an abdominal strain.

Dwight Howard had 18 points and 16 rebounds for Orlando, and Rashard Lewis scored 15.

Orlando nearly blew a 16-point second-half lead with a lousy fourth quarter. The Celtics trailed 75-65 to open the period, then held Orlando scoreless nearly four minutes, and without a field goal for more than five.

But the Celtics slipped into their own fourth-quarter drought -- over 2:47 -- and the Magic pulled ahead by eight on two buckets from Lewis -- one a 3-pointer -- and an authoritative dunk from Howard.

Ray Allen hit a 3 for Boston to tie it at 93-93 with 14.1 seconds left, and Orlando took its time on the last possession. Carlos Arroyo dribbled up the court and held the ball, the whole arena on its feet screaming. Turkoglu curled around and pulled up an ugly shot, but it went in.

Paul Pierce led Boston with 24 points and nine rebounds, Allen scored 17 and Rajon Rondo had 15 points and five assists.

January has been by far Boston's worst stretch -- five of its eight losses have come this month. But the Celtics, at 34-8, are still by far the league's best. The Magic lead the Southeast Division at 28-18, but not by much.

The Celtics went the entire first half, and most of the third quarter, without a 3-pointer, but Allen and James Posey found them late. Posey nailed one to start the quarter, then Allen hit two within a minute and a half, plus the game-tying shot.

The Magic trailed 46-43 at halftime, but opened a double-digit lead with a 22-4 run keyed by forward Brian Cook, who didn't play in the first half. Acquired along with Maurice Evans in a November trade that sent Trevor Ariza to the L.A. Lakers, Cook immediately started scoring -- nailing three 3-pointers and a putback for 11 in the run.

Howard added two three throws, a feat of some magnitude for the 59.6 percent foul shooter, to raucous chants of "M-V-P." The fourth-year standout is a long-shot candidate, and his Magic were looking good at the time: up 69-53, in the third quarter.

But that was with Garnett resting a strained abdominal muscle and Allen on the bench with four fouls.

It would've been easy for Orlando to lose. The Celtics outrebounded Orlando through the first half even without Garnett, though the Magic ended up with a 43-38 edge on the boards. And Orlando committed 20 turnovers for 31 Boston points, compared with 12 Celtics turnovers that led to 14 points for the Magic.

Posey had 16 points and six rebounds off the bench for Boston, and Leon Powe added nine points and nine rebounds.

Notes: Boston has fared far worse against the Southeast Division than the rest of the league. The Celtics are 6-5, having also lost twice to Washington and once to Charlotte. ... Boston closes a two-game Florida swing at Miami on Tuesday. ... Rondo missed a few minutes in the third quarter as trainers taped his sprained ankle. The guard returned favoring it, but finished the game.

[Associated Press; By TRAVIS REED]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.