Projo Sports Blog

BOSTON -- Like a great heavyweight fight, these two teams were feeling each other out in the first quarter, but Orlando won on points, 27-17.

Boston struck first, but Orlando came back with a furious flurry, connecting on eight of their first 11 shots (72.7 percent) to build a 19-9 lead by the midway point of the quarter to quiet the charged crowd.

The Magic built their lead by using swift ball movement and getting everyone involved.

The Celtics offense, meanwhile, looked stagnant. In the opening half of the first quarter, the Celtics made it a point to get the ball to the struggling Ray Allen (5 points) on almost every possession, but Allen only connected on one of his first three shots, and by forcing the ball to Allen, nobody else was getting involved in the flow of the offense.

Boston coach Doc Rivers called a timeout with 5:26 remaining to try to rally his troops after Dwight Howard (6 points, 5 rebounds) made it 19-9 on his third forceful two-handed dunk.

The timeout didn't stop Orlando's momentum. Paul Pierce (4 points) turned the ball over and Hedo Turkoglu (6 points) buried a 3-pointer to give the Magic a 22-9 cushion.

The Celtics did limit the Magic to just seven points over the final 5:01 of the quarter. But the damage that the Magic did early in the quarter was enough to give them a 10-point cushion heading into the second quarter.

Rafer Alston has a game-high seven points for Orlando.

 Tags  Boston Celtics Orlando Magic Rob Lee Robert Lee

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