Celtics coach Doc Rivers talked about his team grinding out results. The last two games have been more like crunching them out.
The Celtics again came through in crunch time last night, the combination of their late-game heroics and the Orlando Magic's panicky reaction resulting in a 92-88 victory in Game 5 of this Eastern Conference semifinal.
The Celtics, who had taken a 95-94 win at the buzzer in Game 4, will take a 3-2 lead in the series going into Game 6 in Orlando tomorrow.
"Things weren't going our way, pretty much the whole night," Celtic guard Ray Allen said. "Everyone just dug down deep. We had been doing the same things but I think we wore them down over the course of the game, where we were bumping them from the lanes, and from getting those easy threes.
"We have great resiliency. We fight tooth and nail, we know the fourth quarter is the time to win games. Being down 15, 20 points, we don't want to be in that position, but we figure we take those good habits out there, share the ball and get back on defense and help each other.
"That's the type of basketball we have to have. When the game is tight we execute and make a shot."
Allen converted the shot that gave the Celtics their first lead, 86-85, since early in the first quarter as they overcame a 10-point deficit in the final minutes.
Rivers went to the starters for the final 4:55, almost a reluctant choice since a Stephon Marbury-led second unit was keeping the team in contention.
But the move paid off as the Celtics took command with harassing defense, timely shooting, and a fortunate call on what appeared to be an airball by guard Rajon Rondo.
A drive by Hedo Turkoglu gave Orlando an 85-75 lead with 5:40 remaining. But that would be the final Magic field goal of the game.
The Celtic rally started as Orlando's Rashard Lewis launched an airball and missed a 20-footer, Glen Davis sinking two jumpers to pull the Celtics within 85-79 with 3:57 remaining. Allen stripped Lewis out of a timeout and Paul Pierce hit a layup off a Rondo feed with 3:26 remaining.
Lewis missed again, Rondo failed on a drive, but Kendrick Perkins's second-chance layup cut the deficit to 2 points with 2:36 to go. Perkins then stopped a Turkoglu drive, but Davis missed a jumper. Dwight Howard was off on a dunk attempt off a Rafer Alston lefthander, and Allen hit a 3-pointer in transition for the 86-85 lead with 80 seconds remaining.
Allen's three would be the final field goal of the game, the crucial shot of the final minute turning out to be a Rondo miss.
On Orlando's next possession, Allen deflected a pass to Alston, who missed a 3-pointer, the Celtics taking possession with 1:01 remaining. Rondo launched a 3-pointer just before the shot-clock buzzer that may or may not have hit the rim.
