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 The Celtics won their second straight and earned their sixth consecutive win over the Magic. They return home Wednesday for a pair of home games, beginning with Brooklyn on Wednesday.
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. It was the seventh straight game in which the Magic have had at least 15 turnovers.
The Magic host San Antonio on Wednesday.
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.
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.
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 in a 10-2 run to take the lead back at 98-97.
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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.
The Celtics scored 13 points off nine Magic turnovers in the first half and led by as many as 12.
When Orlando wasn't giving Boston easy baskets in transition, Rondo was a facilitating for his teammates in the half court. He dished out nine assists to go along with 10 points in the half, missing only two of his seven shots from the field.
For the half, the Celtics also had a 30-16 scoring advantage in the paint.
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. ...Celtics coach Doc Rivers said there are some similarities in year's rebuilding Magic team and the "Heart and Hustle" team he coached his first season in Orlando in 1999-00. Rivers took over that season following a major roster upheaval and led the Magic to a 41-41 mark, just missing the playoffs. "I think it was (Pat) Riley that said the hardest thing about playing us, was you couldn't practice effort," Rivers said. "I tell my team that now, that you can't practice it, you have to mentally prepare for it. And to me when you watch them, that's why they win games."
[Associated
Press; By KYLE HIGHTOWER]
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