C's Rally from 27 Down

January 27, 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. — Perhaps this is what growth is all about. This is what playing without Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Jermaine O'Neal can do for a team. This is also what a 27-point second-quarter hole can do for a team that knows it can do better.

The Celtics, facing all of those conditions last night against the Magic team they beat by 31 points on Monday, roared out of their hole with last night's 91-83 win at the Amway Center.

E'Twaun Moore is especially what growth is all about. The Celtics rookie guard made big plays in every area down the stretch last night, from four 3-pointers — two in the fourth quarter — to a late block on Orlando's Ryan Anderson.

Combined with big shots by Brandon Bass and a recharged Paul Pierce (24 points, 10 assists, six rebounds), and impressive dirty work by Chris Wilcox, Moore had the best night of his young career with 16 points.

But it was the overall surge of confidence in last night's second half that told Pierce something had changed.

"It's just our spirit, where we remain positive," said the Celtics captain. "On losing teams, when you lose games and things don't go your way, then there's finger-pointing. But you don't have that in this locker room. The veteran leadership in this locker room won't allow that.

"It should give us tremendous confidence, especially with guys hurt — key guys hurt," said Pierce. "We didn't have Jermaine to guard Dwight (Howard), we're without our All-Star point guard, our All-Star 2-guard. Everything was in the making for us to lay down and get ready for tomorrow, but there's something about this locker room where the light has switched on."

At first it seemed modest, chipping Orlando's lead from its peak of 27 down to 21 (58-37) by halftime. Celtics coach Doc Rivers sent his team back out after a talk about character. And, all the loose balls and rebounds the Celtics failed to get in the first half were theirs during the last 24 minutes.

"That was a character builder for our team," said Rivers. "It really was. It's all we talked about at halftime — not a big game plan thing. We didn't make any changes. We just kept talking about it being a character builder for the basketball team. Let's get back in it. Let's hang in there long enough to give yourself a chance to win."

At 7:41 to go, Moore's fourth trey of the night (on four attempts) gave the Celtics their first lead, 79-76, since the first quarter. Even though Orlando went 1-for-5 from the line during ensuing stretch, Howard posted Garnett and cut the Celtics' lead to 79-78 with 5:58 left. Hedo Turkoglu missed from downtown, then Moore parked a floater over Howard, followed by a Bass 20-footer.

Then Moore blocked a shot by the complaining Anderson, who picked up a technical foul for the trouble, leading to a Pierce free throw and an 84-78 Celtics lead with 3:47 left. Turkoglu cut the lead to 84-80 with two free throws, but Bass came through with his second up-top jumper for an 86-80 lead with 2:58 left.

Mickael Pietrus stayed in despite landing hard on his tailbone after grabbing a rebound. Bass blocked Turkoglu, and the Celtics carried their six-point edge into the last minute. Jason Richardson's charge with 48 seconds left gave way to a Pierce free throw, before Turkoglu's 3-pointer cut the Celtics lead to 87-83.

Free throws by Pierce, Bass and — appropriately enough — Moore finished the game and the Celtics win.