"We are a team that is going to fight," forward Kevin Garnett said. "We are not perfect. We didn't think we were going to go 82-0. We are a team of character.
"We played hard and we played together. We will learn from this. Games like this build character and hopefully we can apply it to the next game."
Two Jameer Nelson free throws gave Orlando (9-2) a 101-97 lead with 1:28 remaining. The Celtics' Tony Allen missed a wide-open baseline layup attempt with 1:22 left. After a pair of Ray Allen free throws and Garnett fouled out, Rashard Lewis nailed two free throws with 15 seconds remaining to give Orlando a 103-99 lead. Ray Allen nailed a 3-pointer right in front of Orlando's bench to trim the deficit to 103-102 with 7.7 seconds left.
Lewis made one of two free throws with 7.2 seconds left to give Orlando a 104-102 lead. With no timeouts, Rajon Rondo ran down the court with his teammates spaced and a good opportunity to make a play. But the referees stopped the play because the game clock began operating before Rondo touched the ball. Rivers said he felt the clock operator's error ruined an opportunity for a good look to tie the game.
"That clock play killed us," Rivers said. "The floor was spread with Rajon. By that clock starting quick, they were allowed to change their defense. And that hurt us. That really did.
"We had four guys spread and Rajon in the middle. We felt really good with that. Unfortunately, we'll never know."
After the mistake, the Celtics took the ball out at halfcourt and put it in Paul Pierce's hands. With a game-high 28 points already in hand, the five-time All-Star seemed to be a good choice to make something happen, especially because Ray Allen (7 of 17) had a bad shooting night and Garnett (14 points, 11 rebounds) was on the bench.
Rivers said the plan was for Pierce to take the ball to the basket to tie the game. But instead, Pierce hoisted a 27-foot 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left. The shot missed and Magic center Dwight Howard (24 points) grabbed the rebound, giving Boston its first loss.
"I thought I had a good look at a three," Pierce said. "I saw about one or two seconds left and I could have drove and tied the game up. But I went with my instincts. It didn't go our way today."
