NBA PLAYOFFS : Celtics Dispel Magic, Now Come Ghosts

Anybody who didn’t give Boston a chance against Orlando was dead wrong.

The Celtics rebounded from the worst defeat in the franchise’s storied 49-year history with a 99-92 victory Sunday at Orlando that not only evened the first-round playoff series, 1-1, but wrested the home-court advantage from the heavily favored Magic.

Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-five series will be played at Boston Garden on Wednesday and Friday, meaning at least two more games are left at the arena, which the Lakers and others often claim is haunted. It will be closed after the season.

Orlando had the best record in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, but lost its last seven road games--one of them at Boston Garden where the Magic was 1-1 this season.

“I hope they can feel those old ghosts coming out,” Boston’s Sherman Douglas said. “We have to be aggressive like they were in the first game. If we match their aggression, the game will be close. That’s all I want--for the game to be close.”

The Celtics also beat the Magic in Hartford, Conn.

Dominique Wilkins, Dee Brown and Douglas paced the turnaround less than 48 hours after the Magic destroyed the Celtics, 124-77, on Friday night. The 47-point loss was the worst ever for Boston, the only team in the playoffs with a sub-.500 record.

The loss was only the third at home this season for the Magic, which was 29-0 at Orlando Arena against Eastern Conference opponents before Sunday.

Wilkins scored 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting, Brown added 21 and Douglas finished with 20 points and 15 assists. The Celtics held the Magic to one field goal in the last five minutes, Dennis Scott’s three-point basket with five seconds to go.

Anfernee Hardaway led the Magic with 26 points. Shaquille O’Neal had 22, but Orlando never got the league scoring champion into the flow of the offense. Boston’s Hack-a-Shaq strategy backfired in Game 1 when the All-Star center made 11 of 14 free throws, but was more effective Sunday.

Although O’Neal made eight of 14 from the foul line, Boston’s Pervis Ellison and Eric Montross used their bodies--and fouls--to keep him away from the basket. O’Neal had only 13 shots, making seven.

Phoenix 103, Portland 94--Buck Williams was fairly effective in covering Charles Barkley, but Kevin Johnson scored 17 of his 28 points in the second half at Phoenix and Barkley and A.C. Green punished Portland on the backboards.

The Suns took a 2-0 lead in the first-round series, which moves to Portland for Game 3 on Tuesday night.

“This team, if we make our mind up to do anything, we’re usually pretty effective,” Johnson said. “Portland’s the best rebounding team in basketball, and we just tried not to give up anything easy. With Charles, we’re always going to be competitive.”

Barkley had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and Green had 20 and 15. Each had six offensive rebounds as the Suns, out-rebounded in each game against the Trail Blazers, had a 47-35 edge.

Rod Strickland had 26 points and 12 assists for Portland, but he was noticeably less effective in the fourth quarter, when he scored three points, after trying to shadow the speedy Johnson.

Charlotte 106, Chicago 89--Larry Johnson scored 25 points and Alonzo Mourning had 23 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Hornets at Charlotte as they evened their series with the Bulls at 1-1.

A Chicago team that seemed to be making everything in the first half lost its shooting touch in the second, missing 30 of 42 shots.

Michael Jordan’s 32 points weren’t enough.

With a 79-74 lead entering the fourth quarter, Charlotte scored 12 consecutive points to go up, 91-76, with 7:18 to play. Dell Curry capped the run with a three-pointer and an 18-footer.

San Antonio 122, Denver 96--Sporting blond hair inscribed with the red-ribbon symbol of AIDS awareness, Dennis Rodman had one of the best playoff games of his life, scoring 19 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to lead the Spurs to a victory at San Antonio and a 2-0 lead in the series.

Rodman led all players at halftime with 15 points and late in the first period had a run-in with the Nuggets’ Dikembe Mutombo, appearing to elbow Mutombo in the stomach as he fell to the floor.

Rodman was called for a loose ball foul and a technical foul, and Denver Coach Bernie Bickerstaff also got a technical foul during the exchange.

It was a rough night overall. With less than six minutes left in the game, the Spurs’ Avery Johnson was shoved from behind by the Nuggets’ Greg Grant as Johnson went in for a layup. Johnson retaliated by throwing the basketball at Grant and was ejected.

The Spurs’ Jack Haley was ejected with 8.1 seconds left after a confrontation with Grant.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf led Nuggets with 21 points. Bryant Stith and Dale Ellis added 16 points apiece. Mutombo had nine rebounds and only five points.