What they discovered in the loss to Boston, which snapped their seven-game winning streak, was that physical teams that come with defensive intensity can disrupt their inside-outside attack.

"We've got to find a way to get better ball movement against a defense like that," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "This isn't going to hurt our confidence. We're still a pretty good team."

The Magic (33-9) are battling Boston and Cleveland for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Although they still haven't played Cleveland yet this season -- that matchup comes later this month -- they have lost twice to the Celtics, who dominated both games.

"The Celtics have won a championship. That's where we want to go," said guard Jameer Nelson. "We know we're a pretty good team, and we're going to keep working to get better."

The Magic established themselves as serious contenders when they swept through a Western road trip with ease, beating the Spurs, Lakers and Nuggets -- all division leaders. They also crushed the Kings, hitting an NBA-record 23 3-pointers along the way.

After Miami on Saturday, the Magic return home to play Indiana and Cleveland. They no doubt will expect to play better against the Cavaliers than they did against the Celtics.

CELTICS 90, MAGIC 80: Paul Pierce scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds, leading the Celtics to an impressive victory in Orlando on Thursday night. Although the Celtics had played the night before in Miami and the Magic were rested after being off for four days, it was the Celtics who were the more energetic team. Dwight Howard was limited to 11 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 2:30 remaining. Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic with 22 points, but he struggled trying to guard Pierce.