The Orlando Magic blamed themselves, not the absence of Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway.
The Magic didn't try to hide their disappointment Thursday night after squandering a 19-point lead and losing to Boston 100-98 on David Wesley's last-second shot.O'Neal missed his second straight game because of the death of his grandmother, and Hardaway was ejected in the first half after taunting the Celtics' Pervis Ellison and picking up a second technical foul for arguing the call.
"With or without Penny or Shaq, if we get up 19 on someone, we shouldn't lose the ballgame," Orlando's Horace Grant said. "This was one of the worst losses in my career. It's devastating to me."
Hardaway was ejected with 1:14 remaining in the first half after he dunked over Ellison, hung on the rim briefly and then glared at the Boston center.
Official Gary Benson tossed the All-Star guard when he continued to protest the call.
"It was just anger," Hardaway, who scored 15 points, said in a statement released by the team. "I'm just sorry that it happened, to have my teammates playing out there without myself and Shaquille. But things happen."
Orlando coach Brian Hill blamed poor defense, not Hardaway's ejection, for losing only one night after the Magic won easily at New York without O'Neal, whose availability for Sunday's game against Chicago remains uncertain.
"Certainly we're not the same basketball team with Penny and Shaq both off the floor, but we're still good enough to win this game this evening," Hill said.
"We had a double-digit lead in the second half. It obviously hurts to have Penny out of there, but we still should have won. Give credit to Boston. They made the plays at the end of the game when they had to."
Still, the loss didn't sit well with the Magic, who have lost two of their last three home games after winning 40 straight at Orlando Arena.
Dennis Scott said although extenuating circumstances contributed to the loss, "you don't want to lose to a team that can't even spell playoffs."
Wesley, who had 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting, scored 17 in the third quarter when Boston fell behind 72-53 before coming back. His 16-foot game-winner over a fallen defender was his only basket of the fourth period.
Rick Fox had 16 points and Dee Brown 15 for the Celtics.
"They played tough and got a win," Scott said. "But the bottom line is when the playoffs start, they're going to be eating popcorn, drinking sodas and watching us."
Horace Grant led Orlando with 24 points and 17 rebounds. His jumper tied the game for the last time with 12 seconds left, but Nick Anderson, who had 23 points for the Magic, lost his balance and fell while trying to stop Wesley from scoring on the final play.
"Nick went for the steal. He slipped and that's when I crossed over," Wesley said. "When he went down, I went up and had the best look at the basket I could possibly ask for. I knew it was over when I took the shot."
While the Magic found it tough to swallow the loss, Fox said it would have been even more difficult for the Celtics.
"At halftime, we came in and said, `If we can't beat them without Penny and Shaq, we've got a lot of problems for the rest of our careers because we've got to go through them for the next several years," the Boston guard said. "It wasn't pretty when they pushed it to 19, but we stuck with it."
Bulls 100, Heat 92
At Chicago, Michael Jordan scored 40 points and Toni Kukoc had a career-high 34 as the Chicago Bulls clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference with a victory over the Miami Heat.
Dennis Rodman pulled down 12 rebounds in his first home game after serving a six-game suspension for head-butting referee Ted Bernhardt - one of the three officials in Thursday's game. Rodman, who returned for Tuesday's win at Miami, played without incident.
The Bulls (64-8) need to win six of their final 10 games to reach an NBA-record 70 victories. They are 37-0 at home, with 44 consecutive regular-season home wins dating back to last year.
Tim Hardaway and Walt Williams scored 20 points apiece for Miami, which fell into a tie with Charlotte for the conference's final playoff spot. The Bulls can help the Heat by winning Friday in Charlotte. Both the Heat and Hornets have nine games remaining.
Kukoc scored 18 points in the third quarter, when Chicago outscored the Heat 34-25 to go ahead 79-73. A reserve averaging 11.6 points in his first 60 games, he's scoring 19.1 per game as a starter the last 11 games.
While the third quarter belonged to Kukoc, Jordan dominated the fourth, scoring the Bulls' first 10 points and finishing with 14 in the period. Jordan, who scored at least 40 points for the eighth time this season, also became the fourth player in NBA history with 2,000 career steals.
Cavaliers 98, Raptors 77
At Toronto, Dan Majerle and Terrell Brandon each scored 19 points as Cleveland beat the injury-plagued Raptors. Majerle scored 16 points in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer that sparked a 17-0 run by the Cavs. Toronto played without Damon Stoudamire, Oliver Miller, Zan Tabak, and Sharone Wright. Bobby Phills had 18 points for Cleveland, which moved into a virtual tie with the New York Knicks for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Bullets 113, Hawks 110
Brent Price made two free throws with 10 seconds remaining and Washington scored the final 12 points at Atlanta. Price was fouled by Christian Laettner on a drive to the basket, and his foul shots gave the Bullets a 112-110 lead. After Mookie Blaylock missed a 3-pointer for the Hawks, Bob McCann hit one of two free throws for the final margin. Price had 22 points and 11 assists, while Juwan Howard led the Bullets with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Warriors 98, Nuggets 90
At Oakland, Latrell Sprewell scored 22 points and Joe Smith had 19 as Golden State stopped a four-game losing streak and revived its playoff chances. Bimbo Coles added 18 points for Golden State, which passed Denver for ninth place in the Western Conference, 2 1/2 games behind eighth-place Sacramento in the race for the final playoff spot. The Nuggets fell three games behind idle Sacramento. Bryant Stith scored 24 points for Denver, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.