Orlando holds off Celtics in series opener

BOSTON (AP) — Dwight Howard returned from his one-game suspension to get 16 points and 22 rebounds Monday night and help the Orlando Magic hold off the late-charging Boston Celtics 95-90 in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Magic opened a 28-point lead early in the second half before Boston cut the deficit to 91-87 in the final two minutes. The Celtics had several chances to come within one possession — the best Ray Allen’s 3-pointer that rimmed out with 43 seconds left.

Paul Pierce made a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left to make it a three-point game, but J.J. Redick went 4-for-4 from the line in the last 14 seconds to ice it.

“We got complacent as a team, stopped doing what we did to get the lead and against a good Celtics team you can’t do that,” Howard said. “I’m not happy with the way we ended the game.”

Pierce scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half and Rajon Rondo had 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Boston.

Kendrick Perkins had 16 rebounds for Boston, but Rondo and Allen both went 2 of 12 from the field. The Magic had a cold spell of their own in the fourth quarter, going just 5-of-20 from the field to lose most of a once-dominating lead that had the Boston fans booing their team off the court at halftime.

Boston had just one day off since eliminating the Chicago Bulls in a best-of-seven series — 73‚Ñ4, actually — one many consider the best first-round playoff series in NBA history. The teams played a record four overtime games and seven overtimes periods in all — nearly three extra quarters of basketball.