Magic win in game 4, avoid sweep
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The Orlando Magic beat the Celtics 96-92 in overtime in Boston to avoid sweep and take the Eastern Conference finals back to Orlando.
Dwight Howard had 32 points and 16 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson had 23 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime in Game 4.
The teams now head back to Orlando, where the Magic will attempt to defy NBA history by becoming the first team to comeback from a 0-3 deficit.
The Magic started the game strongly thanks to the brilliant play of Matt Barnes, who scored 8 points in the first quarter and gave his team a 31-26 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Magic extended their lead to 7 after Rashard Lewis hit a 3-pointer in the second quarter, but Paul Pierce got hot and cut the deficit to 4 at the half. Notably, it was the first half-time lead for Orlando in this series.
Howard received his fourth personal foul in the third quarter and was replaced by Marcin Gortat. The Celtics took advantage of Howard's absence to finish the quarter with a 6-0 run, overtaking Magic by 1.
J.J.Redick scored the first 7 points for Magic in the final quarter to spark a 7-2 run. Orlando then led 85-78 on Howard's three-point play, but Pierce sliced past Howard for a dunk that cut it to five. Allen then hit a 3-pointer to make it 85-83 with 1:41 left. Nelson made one of two free throws, before Pierce drove to the basket and drew a foul, and with a free throw completed the three-point play to tie the game with 1:16 left.
Both Pierce and Nelson missed jumpers, and then Pierce lost the ball in the final seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime.
Neither team scored in the first 2:18 of overtime until Nelson hit back-to-back 3- pointers. Ray Allen answered two 3-pointers of his own to narrow the gap, but Howard scored the final 4 points for Magic to secure the victory.
Paul Pierce finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds, and Kevin Garnett had 14 points and 12 boards for Boston. Pierce missed two shots in the final minute as the Celtics failed to complete the sweep.
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