Final
Celtics welcome Magic to Beantown
Feb 6, 2011 - 4:01 PM (Sports Network) - A pair of Eastern Conference heavyweights close out their regular-season series this afternoon in Beantown, where the Boston Celtics will play host to the Orlando Magic at TD Garden.The Celtics had a 14-game winning streak stopped by Orlando on Christmas in central Florida, but earned a measure of revenge with a 109-106 victory at home in the most recent bout on Jan. 17. Kevin Garnett returned from a nine- game absence that day to post 19 points and eight rebounds, helping the Celtics end a three-game slide in the series.
Orlando is still 6-2 in the last eight meetings with Boston, but has lost 13 of its last 18 as the visitor in this series.
The Magic have won six of their last 10 games overall and are coming off Friday's 110-92 victory in Washington, as Dwight Howard powered his way to 22 points and 15 rebounds, and Ryan Anderson tallied 19 points for Orlando, who improved to 14-12 away from the Magic Kingdom this season. Magic guard Gilbert Arenas made his return to DC after he was dealt from Washington to Orlando in December. He had 10 points, six rebounds and six assists off the bench.
"It's home. I mean this technically is the longest place I've ever lived," Arenas said. "When I moved to California at ten, I moved back and forth. This is the longest place I've ever lived. I consider this home."
Arenas pretty much sealed his own fate with the Wizards last season when he was suspended 50 games for bringing firearms into the team's locker room. Jason Richardson 18 points in Orlando's fifth straight win over the Wizards.
Boston had a six-game home winning streak stopped with Friday's 101-97 setback to the Dallas Mavericks. Ray Allen buried three shots from beyond the arc for 24 points and is now just six threes shy of passing Reggie Miller for most three-pointers made in a career. Miller holds the all-time record with 2,560.
Garnett finished with 16 points and five rebounds, while fellow big man Kendrick Perkins contributed 13 points and 12 boards for the Celtics, who had won two straight overall and four of five games before the loss.
"I just thought defensively we broke a lot of our defensive rules," said Boston coach Doc Rivers. "I thought we played hard, but I thought we tried to cheat a lot defensively as a team, you know gambles, and they made us pay for every one of them."
The Celtics are still a dominant 22-4 at TD Garden this season. Veteran center Shaquille O'Neal (Achilles/hip) is questionable for Sunday's game and did not play versus the Mavericks. He has missed four of the past seven games, and is averaging 9.3 points and 4.9 boards this season.
- ORLANDO: 80
BOSTON: 91
Final
Feb 6 5:13 PM - ORLANDO: 61
BOSTON: 70
End of 3rd
Feb 6 4:35 PM - ORLANDO: 43
BOSTON: 46
Halftime
Feb 6 3:46 PM - ORLANDO: 22
BOSTON: 17
End of 1st
Feb 6 3:02 PM - ORLANDO: 0
BOSTON: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
Feb 6 2:33 PM
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