Celtics hold off Magic in Orlando, take 1-0 lead in the series
Ray Allen and Paul Pierce led the way as the Boston Celtics smothered the Orlando Magic with a 92-88 win on Sunday night in Orlando, sending Magic to it’s first playoff loss.
The Celtics duo combined 47 points together which apppeared to be simply too much for the Magic in Eastern Conference finals game 1.
Veteran Rasheed Wallace contributed 13 points from the bench helping to break Orlando’s 14th game winning streak.
Boston had a lead as big as 20 points in the by having a 22-5 run in the second half but the Magic cut it down to two points later in the game because of Orlando’s late really in the 4th quarter.
Magic’s power forward Vince Carter finished with 23 points, Jameer Nelson added 20 points but it wasn’t enough this time.
They key factor of Boston’s win was once again strong defense, limiting Dwight Howard to 13 points and 12 rebounds, and allowing only 88 points for the Magic, which team scored averaged more than 100 points in the last 8 playoff games.
Game 2 will be in Orlando on Tuesday night.
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