Magic hangs on, barely, to beat Celtics

Dwight Howard had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and made two clinching free throws with 13.9 seconds left as the Orlando Magic defeated Boston, 86-79, on Sunday after the Celtics had rallied to cut a 22-point deficit to three.

Ray Allen had 17 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, scoring nine straight to make it 82-79 with 1:22 to play. But Allen hit the back of the rim on a three-point attempt from the left side that would have tied it with 41 seconds to play.

Orlando won its fourth straight and moved to within two games of second-place Boston in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Celtics lost two days after defeating Cleveland to grab the tiebreaker edge in the East.