ORLANDO, (Reuters) – Rashard Lewis made a driving lay-in with 1.3 seconds left on the clock to give the Orlando Magic a 96-94 win over Eastern Conference rival the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
Lewis scored a game-high 23 points and Boston’s Rasheed Wallace missed badly on a three-point attempt as time expired to complete an improbable come-from-behind win for the Magic (30-16).
“Turned the corner, took it to the basket and was expecting the defense to collapse,” Lewis told reporters. “I was surprised when I turned to the basket and nobody was there.”
Trailing by 14 early in the fourth quarter, Dwight Howard spearheaded a rally with 11 of his 19 coming in the final period to go with 10 boards and four blocks.
Howard scored nine straight Orlando points to spark a 12-4 run that gave the home team an 84-83 lead with 4:52 to go, their first advantage of the game.
Ray Allen made his first seven shots and finished with 20 points while Wallace had 17 for the Celtics (29-14) who lost for the first time in three games since Kevin Garnett returned from a knee injury.
Despite squandering their big lead Boston was in good position when Paul Pierce made a three-pointer and Rajon Rondo added a runner to put the team up three with 51 seconds left.
However, Magic guard J.J. Redick tied the game with a long bomb of his own, and after a defensive stop, Lewis took advantage of a defensive mix-up by the Celtics to swoop for the game-winning score.