The Boston Celtics don't have to go home and hide.
The only team to make the NBA playoffs with a losing record saved face Sunday, bouncing back from the most lopsided defeat in franchise history with a 99-92 victory over Orlando that evened their first-round, best-of-5 series at one game apiece.The Celtics also snatched the homecourt advantage from the Magic, who have struggled on the road the last half of the season despite finishing with the best record in the Eastern Conference and their first Atlantic Division title.
Orlando looked unbeatable in routing the Celtics 124-77 Friday night. However, the team's youth and postseason inexperience showed in Game 2, which Boston controlled from the start.
"Any time you get beat by that many points, you want to go run and hide. We were determined not to let that happen today," said Boston's Dominique Wilkins. "We felt good about this game. We really did. We felt that we could come in and get a win. We kept pushing, we held our poise and we got that win."
Wilkins scored 24 points and Sherman Douglas had 20 points and 15 assists after being held to eight points on 2-for-13 shooting in the opener. Dee Brown scored 21 for the Celtics, who held Orlando without a field goal for more than five minutes down the stretch until Dennis Scott made a 3-pointer with five seconds left.
Anfernee Hardaway led Orlando with 26 points. Shaquille O'Neal had 22, but took only four shots in the second half as the Magic struggled to get him involved in the offense.
"We as a team, I guess, maybe rested on our laurels," said Horace Grant, the only Orlando player with extensive playoff experience.
"You really can't explain it. I saw it coming in the warmups. We just didn't have it. I said to the guys: `These are the Celtics. They're a team with a lot of pride' . . .
"Guys weren't loose. It was tense out there. You could look into some of the guys' eyes and tell they weren't focused."
Games 3 and 4 will be played at Boston Garden on Wednesday and Friday. While Orlando was 1-1 this season at the storied arena, which will be closed after the playoffs, it hasn't been playing with the confidence necessary to win on the road the past month.
Orlando lost 16 of its last 20 road games during the regular season, including seven straight in April. The Magic is just 2-10 at Boston Garden in six seasons - 2-5 during the Shaq era - and also lost to the Celtics in Hartford, Conn., this year.
"I hope they can feel those old ghosts coming out," said Boston's Sherman Douglas. "The series is not over.
"It's going to be tough, but there's a lot of pressure on them. We like that."