ORLANDO – Kendrick Perkins started to show some frustration in his battle with Dwight Howard. He lost a battle for a loose ball rebound with 1:05 remaining. When he voiced his disgust to veteran referee Dan Crawford, he was whistled for a technical.

The Magic closed the first half on a 12-4 run to tied the game. Rashard Lewis’ floater hit the rim twice before falling through with 29 seconds remaining to tie the game, 44-44. Paul Pierce hit two free throws with six seconds to go before Rafer Alston hit one of two with 2.6 ticks remaining as the Celtics took a 46-45 lead to the locker room. Read the rest of this entry »

ORLANDO – Some early thoughts from Amway Arena. Doc Rivers, who stressed the importance of his big men to play disciplined before the game,  sent an early message to Glen Davis. The hero of Game 4 would not return the rest of the quarter as the Celtics shot out to a 25-22 lead after one, quieting a crowd that was already nervous.

At 10:41, after getting Boston’s first basket on a layup, Davis pulled out after committing first foul and replaced by Brian Scalabrine. At 9:29 Dwight Howard dunked for his first basket. At 9:09, Howard with a put-back dunk. At 8:33 Perkins as shot clock expired. At 7:46 Howard gets easy layup then taunts and gets a technical foul.

Howard started 3-for-4 while the rest of the team started 0-for-9 before Rafer Alston drilled a three-pointer midway through the quarter.

Magic were ice cold in first quarter and shot just 9-for-26.