Los Angeles - Sharpshooting Ray Allen tried to carry the Boston Celtics over the finish line, but the load proved to be too heavy.

Dwight Howard scored 18 points with 15 rebounds, and a pair of game-sealing free throws with 13.9 seconds left, as the Orlando Magic held off a late charge to beat the injury-depleted Boston Celtics 86-79 on Sunday.

"Our guys were fighting very hard," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I thought for a while we lost our fight, but we did a good job of finishing out the game."

The Magic led by 18 at intermission, and 22 midway through the third quarter before taking a 13-point edge into the final frame. Allen, however, erupted for 17 of his 32 points to pull the Celtics within 82-79 with 1:22 left.

"I knew when I got the ball I had to try and make plays," Allen said. "I knew I had to get something going."

"Ray Allen was a very productive guy in this league for a long time, and now he gets a chance to do that, at least on certain nights," Van Gundy said. "I think everybody knows, given the opportunity, he can still come through."

Allen had a shot to pull the Celtics into a tie, but his three-point attempt from the left corner banged off the rim with 41 seconds left.

After Orlando's Rashard Lewis made two free throws, Eddie House missed a three-pointer at the other end. Howard grabbed the rebound and sank both of his foul shots to wrap up the Magic's fourth straight win.

Turkish-native Hedo Turkoglu had 16 points, Lewis finished with 15 for Orlando (46-17) which moved two games behind second-place Boston in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

"It's not just a team that we want to catch," said Turkoglu, following the Magic's first win in three meetings over the reigning NBA Champions. "It's a team that we want to beat."

Paul Pierce scored 16 points for Boston (49-15) which without floor leader Rajon Rondo, (sore ankle), and All-Star forward Kevin Garnett (right knee muscle strain) fell one-game behind idle Cleveland for the top spot in the East.

The Celtics also lost reserve forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis to a right ankle sprain in the third quarter.

"It just seems like every game bodies are going down, said Pierce, who became the Celtics' number three all-time scorer." Rondo gets us off to really good start, but that's no excuse.

"The mainstay is our defence and we didn't show that from the beginning," he added. "It's hard when you get down 20 points, and just try to fight your way all the way back."

However, they nearly did with Allen leading the charge.

"Ray was keeping us in the game," Pierce added. "We rode his shoulders and he made a lot of great plays. Unfortunately, we came up short."

Elsewhere: San Antonio Spurs 103, Phoenix Suns 98 "Frenchman Tony Parker scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, including a game-clinching runner with 26.2 seconds left, and the host Spurs sent the fading Sun to their fourth straight loss.

Tim Duncan had 17 points with 15 rebounds for San Antonio (42-20) which clinched its 12th straight winning season.

Steve Nash had 23 points with 11 assists, but Shaquille O'Neal scored just 14 for Phoenix (34-29) which fell four games behind idle Dallas for the final Western Conference playoff berth.

Utah Jazz 109, Toronto Raptors 101 Deron Williams had 25 points with nine assists, Kyle Korver scored a season-best 20 and the surging Jazz jumped past Denver atop the Northwest Division with its season-high 11th straight victory.

Turkey's Mehmet Okur added 19 points with 11 rebounds for Utah (40-23) which outscored its hosts 28-14 in the final frame.

Chris Bosh collected 30 points with 10 rebounds for Toronto (23-41) losers of five straight overall and eight in a row to Utah.

Sacramento Kings 114, Denver Nuggets 106 Kevin Martin scored 26 points, Argentine Andres Nocioni had 23 and the league-worst Kings (14-49) stunned the visiting Nuggets in the wire-to-wire win.

Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points for Denver (40-24) which dropped from fifth place to seventh in the Western Conference playoff race.

Houston Rockets 93, Memphis Grizzlies 83 China's Yao Ming had 24 points, with 17 rebounds, Argentine Luis Scola added 18 with 14 boards, powering the Rockets to their 12th consecutive home-court victory

Rudy Gay scored 21 and Spanish rookie Marc Gasol contributed 18 for Memphis (16-46) losers in 10 of its last 11 contests.

New Jersey Nets 106, New York Knicks 101 Devin Harris tossed in 35 points, including a key layup with 1:15 left, and the Nets edged their cross river rivals.

David Lee led New York (25-37) with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Oklahoma City Thunder 89, Philadelphia 76ers 74 Nenad Krstic tallied 20 points, Malik Rose added a season-high
14 and the host Thunder rolled to its fourth win in the last five games without injured leading scorers Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. (dpa)