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 stunning 99-92 victory Sunday at Orlando that not only evened the first-round playoff series, 1-1, but also 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 storied arena, which the Lakers and others often claim is haunted. It is being 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,” said Boston’s Sherman Douglas.

“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., to claim two of the five regular-season meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals.

“The pressure’s on, but it’s been on the Magic all year,” said Orlando’s Shaquille O’Neal. “So it’s nothing new. We can win there.”

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 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, who were 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-pointer with five seconds to go.

Anfernee Hardaway led the Magic with 26 points. 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 did make 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 attempted only 13 shots from the field, making seven.

Phoenix 103, Porland 94--Buck Williams was fairly effective in single coverage on Charles Barkley, but Kevin Johnson scored 17 of his 28 points in the second half at Phoenix, while 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 on the offensive boards as the Suns, out-rebounded in each meeting with the Blazers during the season, had a 47-35 edge in this game.

“For them to out-rebound us, we can’t win like that,” Harvey Grant said.

Phoenix Coach Paul Westphal said he would have been happy to break even on the boards.

“If you would have told me before the series that we would out-rebound them in the first two games by significant numbers, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Westphal said.

Johnson got seven rebounds of his own to help Phoenix win its seventh consecutive game against the Blazers this season.

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.

Grant added 21 for the Blazers, who came from nine points down in the second quarter to lead 57-53 at halftime and went up 63-53 in the first 1:10 of the third.

But Johnson, who had 11 points in the quarter, scored seven during a 19-6 surge.

Charlotte 106, Chicago 89--Larry Johnson scored 25 points and Alonzo Mourning had 23 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 hitting everything in the first half lost its shooting touch in the second. In the second half, the Bulls missed 30 of 42 field-goal attempts, and even 32 points from Michael Jordan couldn’t help them.

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.