The Celtics were led by Pierce (33 points, nine rebounds) and Kendrick Perkins (16 points, 13 boards), while Al Harrington scored 30 off the bench for New York.

More on the game to come. Click here to see the box score.

Walker is the team's first assignment to the NBA Development League this season.

Walker, a 6'6" forward, has appeared in one game for the Celtics this season and has logged two minutes of playing time. The Kansas State product has posted career averages of 2.9 points and 1.0 rebound in 7.2 minutes per game over 30 games with the Celtics.

In 15 games with the D-League's Utah Flash last season, Walker averaged 18.9 points and 5.3 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game.

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.

Pierce has 19 points for the game and Ray Allen has 11.

Boston center Kendrick Perkins, who limited Dwight Howard to just five points in the first half, picked up his fifth foul just 4:36 into the third quarter.

Rashard Lewis (14 points) and Vince Carter (16 points) are Orlando's top scorers.

After allowing Orlando to shoot 64.7 percent from the floor in the first quarter, the Celtics held Orlando to just 4-of-18 shooting in the second quarter.

The Celtics outscored the Magic, 27-14, in the second quarter.

Mickael Pietrus (11 points), Vince Carter (10 points), and Rashard Lewis (9 points) have been Orlando's go-to guys, while Paul Pierce (10 points) and Ray Allen (9 points) have kept the Celtics in the game.

Look for Rajon Rondo (4 points, 5 assists) to be more aggressive in the second half.

The Magic, meanwhile, knocked down seven of their first eight shots, and nine of their first 12 (4-for-5 from 3-point line) to set the tone and jump out to a 24-10 lead before the Celtics knew what hit them.

Mickael Pietrus (4-for-4) 11 points and Rashard Lewis (9) points) have been Orlando's go-to guys.

Kevin Garnett (5 points) leads the Celtics.

Boston center Kendrick Perkins, who held Howard to just 13.1 points per game in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.

Howard says that nobody guards him as well as Perkins does. He credits Boston assistant coach Clifford Ray for making Perkins into one of the best defensive centers in the game.

"He's very smart, and I worked with Cliff from the time I got into the league until the time he left to come to Boston. He was a big help for me and he's really helped Kendrick's game. I'm real happy to see the progress that Kendrick has made, not just defensively, but offensively, since he's came into the league.

"We worked out together and when we came out, we he got drafted, and to see him now, I'm just happy to see that he's grown [under] Clifford Ray, who has done a good job of just pushing him to become better every day so I'm really happy for him."

Perkins received four votes to be named to one of the NBA's two All-Defensive teams last season.

"With Perk, we want him to be a deep-post guy," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "When he catches it in the paint...Perk gets a lot of his post-action after he sets a pick for Paul [Pierce] or Ray [Allen] where the bigs on the other team has to help, and that allows him establish himself in the paint. When he catches it outside of the paint, he struggles a little bit. But when he gets it in the paint, he's very difficult to [defend]."

Rivers said that in Perkins' first three years in the league, he wanted to be an offensive player. But after the Celtics signed Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Perkins decided to become the best defensive player he could be because that is where he can help out the team the most.

"Perk has accepted his role and he is trying to master that role to make him a great player," Rivers said. "He's a defensive player and he knows that."

"I don't know if there is anybody in the league faster [than Rondo]," Van Gundy said. "[Rondo] and Derrick Rose are pretty quick and we saw them matched up in the playoff last year. It's tough keeping him out of the paint with his speed, and defensively he can disrupt you with his speed too."

Orlando center Dwight Howard is one of the many players that Wallace has mentored through the years.

"We talk a lot both on and off the court just about situations, about life and how to grow on the court," Howard said. "He's been a good veteran. Even though he's not on my team, he's always giving me some words of advise just to take my game to another level.

"There are a lot of guys who do that, especially when you try to reach out to them and try to pick their brains apart. It just feels good to have guys like that around the league who just don't care about themselves but care about the younger generation as well."

"He's got a lot of things that are there. His jump shot is back for sure. His timing is still off a little bit. One day his quickness is there and the next day it's not, and that's typical with injuries. It takes a while. We are in no hurry with it. We've kept his minutes down. It's been good."

Garnett is averaging 13.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this season.

The locker rooms open up at 6:30 p.m., but in the meantime, here are some some quick notes about the two teams who split their four regular-season meetings last year (2-2).

CELTICS

The Celtics, led by Paul Pierce who is averaging a team-high 18.4 points per game, are 5-2 at home this season. He is on pace to lead the team in points for the 10th consecutive season.

Pierce averaged a team-high 23.3 points against the Magic during the regular season last year.

The Celtics are third in the NBA with 104 steals.

Rajon Rondo is averaging career highs in assists per game (9.0) and steals per game (2.6).

Kendrick Perkins is shooting 50-for-88 (56.8 percent) from the floor this season and is averaging 10.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

Ray Allen is averaging 19.9 points per game against the Magic in his career.

MAGIC

Orlando is 7-2 against Eastern Conference opponents this season.

The Magic have attempted the most 3-pointers in the NBA, 317.

Dwight Howard is shooting 66.7 percent from the floor, by far the best in the NBA. He led the Magic against the Celtics last season, averaging 16.8 points, 15.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks.

Vince Carter is 21-for-48 (43.8 percent) from the three-point line this season, and is averaging 17.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

Marcin Gortat has 14 blocks this season.

Mickael Pietrus is on pace for a career high in minutes per game (30.5).

Jason Williams will start for the injured Jameer Nelson.

Here is what the Celtics had to say about the Magic at practice yesterday.

"They're the team everybody's chasing in the East,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "They won the championship of the East last year. As far as we're concerned, they're the favorite and Cleveland's the second favorite and we're the third - going by the results of last year. So, it will be good to see where we're at.''

"It's definitely a big game for us," Pierce said. "Just try and make a statement against one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. You're talking about a team that's going to be there in the end, one of the best records in the league. So, we're playing for home-court advantage and this is a team that we have to beat.''

"Their record says they're one of the best teams," Garnett said. "They're deep, they're very deep. People are not really talking about their depth, but the onus is on us. This should be a good test for us.''

Kendrick Perkins said: "It's just another playoff team we might have to go through to get where we're trying to go, so I think it's going to be a great test. They beat us in Game 7 at our house, actually I think they blew us out [101-82]. They were Eastern Conference champions so we've got to get that back, so we've got something to prove.''

First, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that city officials there have rejected a proposed 10-story mural of the basketball star -- saying it crosses the line from civic art into a giant ad for Nike products.

"The Cleveland Planning Commission tabled Nike's request to replace a massive mural of James ... showing him bare-chested, his skin a scaly armor," the newspaper says, as in the Adrian Peterson ad the company currently airs on TV.

And then there's this: Another New Orleans Saints plays said the Cavaliers' All-Star forward is "not NFL material."

James caused a stir this week by saying he could be "really good" if he committed himself to playing football. The remarks set off debate about James' football talents and prompted Browns coach Eric Mangini to joke that James should "come on down" and help his 1-8 team.

According to the Associated Press, Cleveland nose tackle Shaun Rogers initially sacked James' belief. Now Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey has piled on.

On his Twitter page, Shockey wrote: "Everyone trust me Lebron James could not play in the NFL! espn is crazy to even think he could even make a practice squad. hes a 4.9 40 time."

James was an All-State wide receiver in high school.

Agassi revealed in his recent autobiography that he failed a 1997 drug test, a result he says was thrown out after he lied by claiming he "unwittingly" took crystal meth.

However, ATP chairman Adam Helfant said on Friday that there was no way to sanction the American retroactively since he has retired from tennis.

"There has been a lot of speculation about whether the ATP would reopen the case, but we cannot do that because he's no longer playing on the tour," Helfant said at the ATP World Tour Finals in London. "I asked an outside law firm to go through the records from 1997 so I had all the facts. Andre Agassi has admitted he failed a drugs test in 1997 and regrettably he then lied about it. Even more regrettably he got away with it."

He said the ATP's decision not to reveal the positive test was in line with its policy not to comment on doping cases.

"If we had revealed that test it would have been in contravention of the rules at the time," he said.
Helfant said he had a "very frank conversation" with Agassi after the book came out, and that the ATP has responded to the World Anti-Doping Agency's questions about the case.

"But what was said will remain between us and will not be made public," he said.

Amy Eyden's goal in the 25th minute was the difference.

The Knights will play Polk CC, of Winter Haven, Fla., in a consolation game at 1 p.m. Friday.

CCRI became one of eight teams to qualify for the NJCAA tournament after winning the District G Northeast Tournament last Sunday.

The Cavaliers' All-Star forward caused a stir this week by saying he could be "really good" if he committed himself to playing football. The remarks set off debate about James' football talents and prompted Browns coach Eric Mangini to joke that James should "come on down" and help his 1-8 team.

Cleveland nose tackle Shaun Rogers initially sacked James' belief. Now Shockey has piled on.

On his Twitter page, Shockey wrote: "Everyone trust me Lebron James could not play in the NFL! espn is crazy to even think he could even make a practice squad. hes a 4.9 40 time."

James was an All-State wide receiver in high school.