Dwight Howard demanded the ball, and delivered when the Orlando Magic gave it to him. Now he needs to back it up, one more time.
Howard had 23 points and 22 rebounds after challenging Stan Van Gundy’s coaching strategy, and the Magic beat the Celtics 83-75 last night in Orlando to force a Game 7.
“I just tried to be me,” Howard said. “I just have to go out there and play and not worry about nothing.”
And what did he learn from his comments?
“Biggest lesson?” Howard said. “Keep my mouth shut.”
Rashard Lewis had 20 points, and Hedo Turkoglu made a 3-pointer to highlight an 11-2 run to close the game for the Magic, who haven’t made it to the conference finals since 1996. But it was Howard who the Magic leaned on after he called out Van Gundy for not getting the ball enough in Game 5.
“I guess Dwight Howard was right,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “My gosh. He was unbelievable.”
Rajon Rondo finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds and six assists, and Paul Pierce scored 17 for the Celtics, who led by 10 points in the second half before falling apart. Game 7 is Sunday in Boston.
The Celtics also failed to close out the Chicago Bulls in Game 6 of their first-round series, a triple-overtime epic. Boston will now go the distance in its first two series for the second straight year.
The two days off before Game 7 should give an older, worn out Boston team a chance to rest its tired legs. It’s still not enough for Rivers.
“I would take a week off and do it like the Super Bowl,” Rivers joked. “That would be terrific. But that’s not going to happen.”
Howard blamed Van Gundy for not getting the ball more after the Magic’s Game 5 collapse, when they blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.
“You’ve got a dominant player, let him be dominant,” Howard said.
He came out trying to back up his strong words.
Howard scored the first eight points of the game for the Magic, including a pair of dunks that pumped some life into the home crowd. He finished 9-for-16 shooting.
Rockets 95, Lakers 80
In Houston, Aaron Brooks scored 26 points, Luis Scola added 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the scrappy, undermanned Rockets pushed the top-seeded Lakers to the brink in their Western Conference semifinal series.
Reserve Carl Landry scored 15 as the Rockets built another huge lead in the first half, then fought off a Lakers rally to force Game 7 on Sunday at the Staples Center.
Kobe Bryant scored 32 and Pau Gasol added 14 for Los Angeles, which lost for only the third time in the last 18 games when it has a chance to close out a series.
The Lakers have one more opportunity to finish off Houston, but they probably didn’t expect to need it, three games after Yao Ming exited the series with a broken left foot.
“We still have no chance,” Brooks said with a huge smile. “We’ll keep playing, though.”
The winner will play the Nuggets, who finished off Dallas on Wednesday night
