Celtics Hold Back Magic

The Orlando Magic couldn't hold onto the ball, and they're having trouble holding onto a spot in the playoffs, too.

Danny Fortson had a season-high 23 points and 14 rebounds Wednesday night as the Boston Celtics beat Orlando 95-91 to hurt the Magic's bid for the NBA's final playoff berth.

"They've got to go down to the wire, rather than just waltzing into the eighth spot," Celtics guard Kenny Anderson said.

Orlando is 39-39, tied with Milwaukee, which beat Cleveland 101-100 on Wednesday. The Bucks and Magic also are two games behind Detroit for the seventh spot after the Pistons beat Miami 90-73.

And Fortson made it tough on them, too.

"We all let him have his way tonight," Magic forward Ben Wallace said.

Antoine Walker had 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Celtics, who have won consecutive games following a 10-game losing streak that ended their playoff hopes. But Boston is enjoying its role as a spoiler.

"We want to mess up their playoff chances. That's our motivation now," Walker said. "Now, I wish them all the best. We just wanted to win this one."

Orlando led 91-90 with 4:05 left when Boston's Eric Williams tipped the ball away. Walker ran to it an threw a baseball pass to Kenny Anderson for a breakaway layup. After the Magic's Ron Mercer missed a shot, Paul Pierce hit a 3-pointer to give Boston a 95-91 lead.

Orlando called timeout, but Pat Garrity missed a baseline jumper. Fortson missed both free throws at the other end, but Mercer lost the ball at the other end to and with it Orlando's last chance.

The Celtics ran the 24-second clock down before missing a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer. But Orlando was left with only 8.3 seconds to try to erase a four-point deficit not enough time, it turned out.

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