ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Stan Van Gundy was so tired of watching his Orlando Magic players get pushed around on the court that he said they were like a little kid getting beat up daily by the playground bully.
"At some point, enough is enough, and he stands up for himself," Van Gundy quipped after a demoralizing loss to Detroit in February, when Rasheed Wallace and the Pistons manhandled Orlando.The Magic got the message and started flexing their own muscles.
No more the pushovers, Dwight Howard and the Magic (53-18) pushed back against one of the Eastern Conference bullies Wednesday in a victory over the Boston Celtics. Orlando has won four straight and 11 of its last 13 games to move into second place in the East by percentage points over Boston (54-19).
The recent Magic surge has in part been because of some late defensive stops, the type of grind-it-out wins that have helped them begin to shed that "soft" image and resurface as a serious contender in the East.
"We kind of got the label that we're just an offensive team," Magic shooting guard Courtney Lee said Thursday. "Boston was a stepping stone for us, beating a team and getting it done with our defense. We look forward to getting it done on the defensive end from now on."
The win over Boston, as big a confidence boost as it may be for the Magic, does come with an asterisk: Celtics All-Star forward Kevin Garnett was limited to just 16 minutes and didn't even play in the fourth quarter as Boston eases him back into the lineup from a right knee strain.
Van Gundy said he couldn't care less that Garnett didn't play and said it took nothing away from his team's big win. The way he sees it, a late-season victory against the defending champions only fuels momentum.
"When you go out and win like that it gives you more confidence and more resolve," Van Gundy said. "But it's OK if people are still going to question the toughness of our team."
For now, there's still much they can take from their latest win.
Howard came out with a purpose and had a double-double by the first quarter, Rashard Lewis attacked Garnett effectively and held his own on defense, and even Van Gundy did more than his usual kicking and screaming by getting a rare technical foul call. The Magic held the Celtics to just 43.4 percent shooting, and Howard's game-saving block on a layup attempt by Paul Pierce in the final seconds secured the victory.
"To play against a team with champions, one you want to show that you can play," Magic point guard Rafer Alston said. "Two, that you can beat them. It feels good to know we can do both."
The Magic - or anyone for that matter - stand little chance to catch first-place Cleveland, which began Thursday with a five-game lead over Orlando and would have to completely collapse not to be the No. 1 seed. But Orlando will benefit from a soft schedule in the regular-season's final weeks that should help its cause to get the East's second seed, a position that would give them home-court advantage in a possible second-round playoff series against Boston.
Seven of the Magic's last 11 games are against teams with losing records, including the final five and Friday's matchup against Milwaukee.
The one downside to securing the No. 2 seed for the Magic is they could face Detroit in the first round. The Pistons are 3-0 against Orlando this season and have knocked them out of the playoffs the past two years.
But none of that matters to the Magic.
"We want to get into the second-place spot," Lewis said. "It would be good for us, and it would be good to have home court. But regardless, you have to win on the road to win an NBA championship. You just can't win at home. The good teams go out on the road and win games with defense."
