ORLANDO, Fla. — The Boston Celtics left the floor with the smallest of grins, hands raised in triumph, leaving the Orlando Magic’s fans listening to a somber song by Elvis.
Blue Christmas.
Not for the guys in green.
Rajon Rondo had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists, and Boston bullied the Magic with strong defense in an 86-77 victory Friday.
“We are a physical team,” Rondo said. “We try to get stops the right way.”
Ray Allen added 18 points and Tony Allen scored 16 in place of the injured Paul Pierce for the Celtics, who rolled to their 14th victory in the past 15 games. Pierce is out with a right knee infection and could miss two weeks.
They looked fine without him.
The only big blow for the Celtics came in the final minutes, when Kevin Garnett jumped to block a shot by Vince Carter, landing awkwardly and tumbling to the ground. He hobbled back to the bench holding his back and didn’t return.
Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said Garnett mostly had a bruise on his head. Garnett said he was fine.
“If he grew some hair, it wouldn’t hurt so much,” Rivers joked.
Carter finished with 27 points, and Rashard Lewis had 19 points for the Magic. Orlando had no answer to Boston’s relentless pressure, which held Dwight Howard to five points and Orlando to a season low in points.
Even with all that, the Magic had a chance.
Lewis’ three-pointer with 1:02 remaining - the same play Garnett went down - cut Boston’s lead to 78-75. Carter made the pass to avoid Garnett on the play, a familiar theme throughout.
“I know he was the guy I saw flying at me,” Carter said. “It was a lot of green in there, put it that way.”
Ray Allen then connected on a jumper and made two free throws to seal the victory, perhaps cementing the Celtics (23-5) as the top contenders to dethrone the defending Eastern Conference champions.
The teams have each won a game on the other’s court this season and have two games left against each other.
“This was definitely a benchmark game for us because we have been talking about this game for a long time,” Ray Allen said. “We did what we had to do and took care of the game.”
This was exactly the game the Celtics wanted.
They beat and bruised the Magic’s front line, smothering Howard so much he only attempted one shot in the opening quarter - a missed tip in the last minute - and struggled to get free until the final buzzer. The Celtics didn’t double-team the Magic’s center like so many teams do, mostly because they didn’t have to.
They had plenty of big bodies.
“You’ve got to play him physical. You watch other teams around the league, they pretty much let him set up shop,” Boston center Kendrick Perkins said. “You’ve just got to go in and be prepared to go to war. You’ve got to fight him first, hit him first.
“He likes to be physical, but he doesn’t like anyone to be physical with him.”
The Celtics’ formula worked to perfection.
Garnett, Rasheed Wallace and Co. limited Howard’s touches and were able to close fast on Orlando’s potent shooters. The physical play turned things into the kind of foul-filled defensive game where Boston flourishes.
“It wasn’t the prettiest ball,” Rivers said. “It was ugly ball. I don’t necessarily think it was bad basketball, but two teams playing extremely hard and great defense.”
It was Boston basketball.
The Celtics held Orlando (22-8) to 28 points in the first half, tying a franchise low. They closed the quarter on an 18-2 run to take an 11-point lead, smiling on their way to the locker room as some fans showered the home team with boos.
“We have not been able to establish him in the post against them, and it’s frustrating because we should be able to,” Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I have to find an answer to that. I’m not frustrated with Dwight, I’m frustrated with myself. But obviously, not a lot of offensive efficiency there.”
HEAT 93, KNICKS 87
NEW YORK - Dwyane Wade had 30 points and nine rebounds, and the Miami Heat spoiled New York’s return to Christmas competition, snapping the Knicks’ three-game winning streak.
Michael Beasley added 13 of his 19 points after halftime for the Heat, who opened a comfortable lead by limiting New York to 31 points across the middle two quarters. Then Miami held on after the Knicks finally got on track in the final minutes. Jermaine O’Neal finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, making a jumper with 51 seconds left after Miami’s lead had been sliced to three points.
Danilo Gallinari scored 26 points and David Lee had 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who had a six game home winning streak snapped. They were playing in their NBA-leading 45th Christmas game, but first since beating Toronto in 2001.
SUNS 124, CLIPPERS 93
PHOENIX - Amare Stoudemire led seven Phoenix players with at least 10 points, finishing with 26, and the Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers for the sixth consecutive time in a rout.
Jared Dudley and J.R. Richardson each added 18 for the Suns in their most lopsided victory this season. Dudley, scoreless in Phoenix’s home loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, made 4 of 5 three-pointers.
The Suns shot 54 percent, including 12 of 24 three-pointers. They entered the game losers of two in a row, both at US Airways Center, after starting the season 10-0 at home.
Rasual Butler scored 22 and Chris Kaman had 19 for the Clippers, winners of two of their previous three games and four of six.
Grant Hill banked one in from three quarters court at the halftime buzzer to put Phoenix up 67-55 at the break. The Suns turned it into a blowout in the third quarter.
Sports, Pages 21 on 12/26/2009