The Orlando Magic survived a furious second-half Celtics rally attempt to beat Boston, 83-78, at the Garden.

It was an uphill battle for the Celtics right from the start as the Celtics fell behind by 16 after one quarter of play.

But the Celtics refused to be embarrassed on their home court. The Celtics clawed their way back into the game and cut the Magic lead to 75-74 after a Kevin Garnett (13 points, 11 rebounds) jumper, followed by a Rasheed Wallace (9 points, 13 rebounds) steal and a Paul Pierce (21 points) layup with 5:16 remaining in the game.

Vince Carter (26 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) answered with a jumper and free throw to give the Magic a 78-74 cushion. The Celtics missed three consecutive shots on their next possession, but got three offensive rebounds and scored on their fourth shot, a Garnett layup with 3:26 to go.

After getting a stop, Wallace tied the game up with an 8-foot jumper with 2:54 remaining, but Carter came right back with a jumper after an Orlando timeout stopped Boston's momentum.

Rashard Lewis (16 points, 10 rebounds) extended Orlando's lead to 82-78 with two free throws with 58.4 seconds left, and the Celtics called a timeout.

Ray Allen (15 points, 6 assists) tried to take the ball to the basket, but it was stolen by Jason Williams (7 points, 6 assists), who made a free throw with 10.5 seconds left to ice the game.

Orlando improves to 10-3 with the win and the Celtics are now 9-4.