But Woods wasn't there to work. Like everyone else in Amway Arena last night, he was drawn by another Eastern Conference marquee moment, another potential conference final preview.

In that regard the Celtics feel some vindication today. After losing their first two supremely hyped road games this season in Los Angeles and Cleveland, the Celtics put a big one on the board with last night's 90-80 win over Orlando.

``This was very big,'' said Pierce. ``You hear about the way that Cleveland and Orlando have been playing, and it's important for us to get some of those wins. Hopefully we'll get two more against them and win the season series. That's going to be big.''

Indeed, the stakes are already big.

``We didn't want to go down so far as losing on the road to the top four teams in the NBA,'' said guard Ray Allen. ``So from a mindset perspective, we wanted to come in here and play four good quarters.''

The Celtics did better than that. They held the Magic to season lows in points (80) as well as points in a half (36 in the first). The continued pounding of Kendrick Perkins and Davis relegated MVP candidate Dwight Howard to a night of frustration with 11 points and six debilitating fouls.

The Celts snapped Orlando's seven-game win streak, extended their own to seven, and now have a 2-0 season series edge over a very important opponent. And now they are tied with Cleveland for the best winning percentage (.800) in the East.

And for all of the big shots, including a 27-point performance from Pierce, for the second straight night someone came off the bench to turn the game.

Just as Eddie House destroyed the Heat on Wednesday with his 3-point shooting, Davis turned so hot last night, even Perkins, about to sub in for him at the start of the fourth, turned to Doc Rivers and advised that they leave Big Baby on the floor.

Davis, responsible for a good portion of Howard's coverage, turned from starstruck gawker into difference maker with perhaps the best game of his Celtics career, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.

``With Baby it's all about consistency,'' said the Celtics coach. ``I wish that was every night, and I'm hoping it will be every night some day. You could see him engaged tonight early, and we just rolled with him.''

Howard, haunted by Davis at both ends of the floor, fouled out with 2:30 left for a moving pick violation. Davis had just buried a 20-footer for an 84-75 Celtics lead, and the Magic needed help from another corner.

Jameer Nelson picked the ball away from Rajon Rondo and cruised in off the break. But Davis drew a crowd and a foul under the basket and hit both free throws for an 86-77 edge with 1:16 left.

``It felt like a playoff game for a minute,'' said Howard. ``But we just have to step up to the challenge when we play a great team like the Celtics. We've been watching them play for a long time. They play with a lot of intensity, they play hard and we've got to be able to match it.

``We play them two more times, and we're looking forward to it.''

- mrmurphy@bostonherald.com