ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Boston Celtics will be the first to admit that they arent playing their best defensive basketball right now. But having two of the leagues best closers and one of its top point guards certainly helps with the rough patches. Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Paul Pierce added 23 points and Rajon Rondo was one rebound shy of a triple double with 15 points and 16 assists as the Boston Celtics outlasted the Orlando Magic 116-110 in overtime Sunday night. The win was their second straight overall and sixth consecutive over the Magic. Pierce had 14 points after halftime, and said that despite his teams recent struggles defensively, it was a much needed character building kind of victory. "Thats what its all about," he said. "Finding a way to win. Not feeling sorry for ourselves late about giving up a pretty good lead. And just finding a way to grind it out. And thats what we did." J.J. Redick scored 21 and Jameer Nelson had 20 for the Magic, whose loss snapped a two-game win streak. Orlando led by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, but had 19 turnovers that led to 23 Celtics points. It was the seventh straight game in which the Magic have had at least 15 turnovers. It was also the latest in a string of games in which their own miscues cost them a win. "We had our chances. We definitely had our chances in overtime," Redick said. "We had a couple of bad possessions offensively. Well learn from that. ...You can talk about experience or execution. They just executed better than us in the end." After some early back-and-forth, the Celtics broke the overtime stalemate and took a 113-108 lead on a 3-pointer by Pierce, and layup by Rondo with 1:37 left. Nelson scored on a driving layup to trim it to three and the Magic got the ball back after Rondo came up with air on a 21-footer as the shot clock wound down. But Nelson fired up an off balance 3 on Orlandos ensuing touch, and following a foul, Garnett connected 1 of 2 free throws on the other end to make it 114-110 to lock up the victory. "Overall I thought we didnt play very well. I thought they played great," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "They played hard. Its like I said before the game, if you dont come in this game and play them and dont think hard basketball, youre not going to win. "Whether you have more talent or not, I thought that was a good lesson for our guys," Rivers said. It was a disappointing finish for what was a masterful second half by Nelson in which he carried the Magic nearly singlehandedly with 17 points in the final two quarters and overtime. "Overall we did a good job of playing against their veteran team," Nelson said. "Weve got such a young team. Theres a lot we can learn from this game." Nelson scored the Magics final eight points of the third quarter, including a fade away jumper to end the period to give the Magic a two-point edge entering the fourth. The lead grew as big as seven on a 3-pointer by Arron Afflalo with just over eight minutes remaining. The Celtics werent deterred, though, and immediately went on a 10-2 run to take the lead back at 98-97. Redick tied it again at 100 with a 3-pointer, but couldnt connect on a lob to Afflalo after chasing down a loose ball. The Celtics returned the favour with a turnover of their own, leading to a driving layup by Glen Davis. Boston quickly tied it again, and collected a rebound on its next possession after a missed jumper by Nelson with 30.4 left. After a Celtics timeout, Garnett missed an open jumper just inside the free throw line, but the ball caromed off a Magic player giving them another chance. But Pierce missed a leaning jumper at the buzzer to send it to overtime. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn shared Nelsons take on the positives that can come out of Sundays setback. "This is a great experience for us," Vaughn said. "We had guys contribute off the bench. Josh (McRoberts) came in and played some great minutes for us in regulation and overtime. And its a great sign to see guys wanting to play, waiting to play for each other, and contributing. So well put it all together." The Celtics return home on Wednesday for a pair of home games, beginning with Brooklyn on Wednesday. Though they still have several kinks to work out on the defensive end during their days off from game action, Garnett said he likes where his team is right now. The numbers might say otherwise right now, but he said their identity is still rooted in defence. "Were a defensive team that can score the basketball," Garnett said. "We always have been. As long as Docs going to be here, thats how its going to be." NOTES: Rondo has now had at least 10 assists in 37 consecutive games. ... The Magic lost for the first time this season when they score 100 or more points. Cheap Jerseys From China . Louis Cardinals at Nationals Park. Washington stayed alive in dramatic fashion on Thursday, as Jayson Werth belted a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Nationals to a dramatic 2-1 victory. "Its what you play all season for and what you work out all winter for and what you get to spring training early for," said Werth of the winner-take-all showdown. Wholesale Jerseys . -- For months the Orlando Magic have been trudging through the aftermath of a preseason trade request by Dwight Howard that sapped the life out of the franchise as internal team issues quickly affected the product on the floor. http://www.cheapchinajerseys.us.com/[/... . The rookie forward broke his right ring finger Dec. 26 against the Orlando Magic, when he got tangled up when battling for a loose ball under the basket. 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"At (26 years old) I would say Kyle represents what I would characterize as the future of the position." Lowry averaged career bests of 14.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals with the Rockets last year. He also contributed team-highs of 6.6 assists and 32.1 minutes in 47 games. He is slated to make US$5.75 million next season and $6.21 million in 2013-14, a very attractive price for a starting point guard who can put up points and eat minutes. The six-foot, 205-pound Philadelphia native is a key building block for a young team that will add prized rookie centre Jonas Valanciunas, recent draft picks Terrence Ross and Quincy Acy and potentially guard/small forward Landry Fields to its roster next season. The deal was first reported last week, shortly after the Raptors missed out on signing Victorias Steve Nash. The Canadian star went to the Los Angeles Lakers instead. "I respect Steve a great deal for making his decision about family first and probably basketball second," Colangelo said. "The fact that he got a perfect blend that allows him to compete for a championship an hour away from his family ... I cant fault a guy for that and I applaud him for it actually." Colangelo also said the team was going ahead with its plan to sign Fields to an offer sheet, reported last week to be around $20 million. Colangelo confirmed Fields wwas targetted partly because the Knicks planned to use him as a piece of a sign-and-trade deal to lure Nash to New York.dddddddddddd With Nash no longer in the Raptors plans, the cost for Fields would seem high for a player who regressed last season after a solid rookie year in New York. Fields averaged 8.8 points and 4.2 rebounds a game. "I think Im criticized for every contract I sign, so I just take it with the territory," Colangelo said. "It seems at some point those contracts seem to validate themselves. "Free agency is a funny game. Most of the time you sign a free agent youre overpaying. In restricted free agency you tend to overpay even more. We put a value on certain players based on a lot of input and a lot of thought, and we think at the end of the day theres going to be significant value for what we are going to be paying Landry Fields." The Knicks have three days to match the Raptors offer to Fields, a scenario which Colangelo called a "50/50 proposition." What Lowrys acquisition means for current Raptor point guard Jose Calderon remains to be seen. Calderon played well last season averaging 10.5 points and 8.8 assists per game, but Lowry is five years younger and regarded as an upgrade on defence. A likely scenario would see Lowry start and Calderon come off the bench. Colangelo also said the Raptors would not be against trading Calderon for the right price, but for now they see him as a valuable part of the team. "Im not going to tell you (Jose) was thrilled about the trade, but in the end this is about becoming a better basketball team and thats my No. 1 concern," Colangelo said. Lowry was a first-round draft choice (24th overall) by Memphis in 2006. He played two seasons at Villanova University before declaring for the NBA Draft. Forbes averaged 6.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 14.9 minutes in 48 games last season with the Raptors. ' ' '