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Magic Pulls Out Victory

Associated Press

NBA playoffs

The crowd tried to rattle them. Their shots clanged off the rim. They blew a 10-point lead. Yet this time the Orlando Magic wouldn’t crumble under a challenge.

They overcame their reputation for buckling in big games by scoring the last eight points and beating the Boston Celtics 82-77 Wednesday night. Leading 2-1, they can close out the best-of-five series and slam the doors on the old Boston Garden with a Game 4 victory Friday night.

“This is the game we didn’t lose our composure,” Orlando coach Brian Hill said. “We didn’t make a lot of shots but we came up here and played with all this emotion (from the fans) and it was a great win.”

Orlando was swept in the first round of the playoffs last season. It had the best record in the Eastern Conference this season, but split the first two games at home with Boston, the only sub-.500 playoff team.

Shaquille O’Neal had 20 points and a seasonhigh 21 rebounds in front of a full house in the building that the Celtics will leave for the new FleetCenter next season.

“We had a lot of poise and we didn’t give up when things didn’t go our way,” O’Neal said.

Neither did the Celtics, who played with a desire they rarely displayed in their inconsistent regular season.

They drove to the basket from the start and charged to the offensive boards. Boston was led by Dominique Wilkins and Dee Brown with 16 points each and Dino Radja’s 15.

“This team made me proud of the way they played,” Celtics coach Chris Ford said. “That was a lot of guts and heart out there.”

But not much accurate shooting.

The Celtics hit a serieslow 31 percent of their shots and were 4 of 19 in the fourth quarter. The Magic shot 41 percent for the game and were 4 of 18 in the last period. But they hit two shots in the last 1:10 while Boston made only one in the last 5:43.

Magic 82, Celtics 77 ORLANDO (82)

Royal 1-3 0-0 2, Grant 3-11 0-0 6, O’Neal 7-12 6-14 20, Hardaway 5-16 6-9 16, Anderson 9-17 4-6 24, Scott 5-13 1-2 11, Rollins 0-0 0-0 0, Turner 0-1 0-0 0, Shaw 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 31-76 17-31 82.

BOSTON (77)

Wilkins 4-14 4-4 16, Radja 4-13 7-10 15, Montross 1-2 1-2 3, Brown 6-17 1-1 16, Douglas 4-16 2-4 11, Ellison 3-8 2-2 8, Strong 2-3 2-2 6, Minor 0-2 0-0 0, McDaniel 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 25-80 19-25 77.

Orlando 19 26 21 16 - 82 Boston 24 17 22 14 - 77

3-Point goals-Orlando 3-11 (Anderson 2-4, Shaw 1-2, Hardaway 0-1, Grant 0-1, Scott 0-3), Boston 8-18 (Wilkins 4-6, Brown 3-9, Douglas 1-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Orlando 58 (O’Neal 21), Boston 62 (Ellison 10). Assists-Orlando 14 (Hardaway 8), Boston 20 (Douglas 7). Total fouls-Orlando 19, Boston 23. Technicals- Hardaway, Shaw, Douglas. A-14,890 (14,890).

Jazz 95, Rockets 82 UTAH (95)

Benoit 5-10 1-2 14, Malone 13-26 6-10 32, Donaldson 2-3 2-2 6, Hornacek 6-12 2-3 14, Stockton 4-10 1-3 11, Watson 1-2 0-0 2, Carr 5-12 2-3 12, Chambers 2-3 0-1 4, Edwards 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 38-79 14-24 95.

HOUSTON (82)

Chilcutt 0-4 1-2 1, Horry 3-8 2-4 9, Olajuwon 12-27 6-7 30, Drexler 7-14 2-4 17, Smith 5-10 6-6 20, Cassell 1-3 2-2 5, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Elie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-68 19-25 82.

Utah 20 26 24 25 - 95 Houston 23 18 24 17 - 82

3-Point goals-Utah 5-8 (Benoit 3-4, Stockton 2-2, Hornacek 0-2), Houston 7-17 (Smith 4-6, Cassell 1-1, Horry 1-3, Drexler 1-4, Chilcutt 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- Utah 56 (Malone 19), Houston 41 (Olajuwon 10). Assists-Utah 26 (Stockton 13), Houston 18 (Horry, Smith 5). Total fouls-Utah 22, Houston 19. Technicals-Smith, Houston illegal defense. A-16,611 (16,611).