He leads win over Celtics, forces decisive Game 7
Magic center Dwight Howard pulls down an offensive rebound in front of Boston Celtics guard Paul Pierce during Thursday's game in Orlando.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Dwight Howard demanded the ball, and delivered when the Orlando Magic gave it to him.
Now he needs to back it up, one more time.
Howard had 23 points and 22 rebounds after challenging Stan Van Gundy’s coaching strategy, and the Magic beat the Boston Celtics 83-75 on Thursday night to force a decisive Game 7.
“I just tried to be me,” Howard said. “I just have to go out there and play and not worry about nothing.”
And what did he learn from his comments?
“Biggest lesson?” Howard said. “Keep my mouth shut.”
Rashard Lewis had 20 points, and Hedo Turkoglu made a 3-pointer to highlight an 11-2 run to close the game for the Magic, who haven’t made it to the conference finals since 1996.
But it was Howard who the Magic leaned on after he called out Van Gundy for not getting the ball enough in Game 5.
“I guess Dwight Howard was right,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “My gosh. He was unbelievable.”
Rajon Rondo finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds and six assists, and Paul Pierce scored 17 for the Celtics, who led by 10 points in the second half before falling apart. Game 7 is Sunday in Boston.
The Celtics also failed to close out the Chicago Bulls in Game 6 of their first-round series, a triple-overtime epic. Boston will now go the distance in its first two series for the second straight year.
The two days off before Game 7 should give an older, worn out Boston team a chance to rest its tired legs. It’s still not enough for Rivers.
“I would take a week off and do it like the Super Bowl,” Rivers joked.
Boston had chances.
The Celtics held the Magic scoreless for more than five minutes to start the third quarter, building a 10-point lead on a jumper by Glen “Big Baby” Davis.
But Howard led the Magic back, with a backspin alley-oop from Turkoglu that highlighted a spurt to end the third quarter. Orlando took its first lead with 8:38 remaining in the fourth.