<div id="subtitle">Carter scores 20 points, Magic use 19-0 surge in third quarter to rally past Celtics 96-89</div><div><p>Vince Carter led a 19-0 surge in the third quarter and finished with 20 points as the Orlando Magic beat Boston 96-89 on Sunday, moving ahead of the Celtics and into second place in the Eastern Conference.</p><p>Carter scored nine points during a rally that began after Rajon Rondo's 3-pointer gave the Celtics a 60-51 lead with 7:17 left in the third quarter — Boston's fourth and final field goal of the period.</p><p>The Magic turned a 51-40 halftime deficit into a 76-62 lead after the third and stayed in front by at least five points the rest of the way.</p><p>Dwight Howard had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando.</p><p>Rondo scored 17 points and Ray Allen added 13 for the Celtics.</p><p>The Celtics made a late run with seven straight points that cut the lead to 94-89. But Rashard Lewis just beat the 24-second buzzer with a short driving shot that made it 96-89 with 18 seconds to go.</p><p>The Magic (34-17) rebounded from a loss Friday night to Washington in which they blew a 21-point lead and moved one game ahead of the Celtics (32-17).</p><p>Boston lost despite getting two important players back. Paul Pierce, their leading scorer, returned after missing two games with a strain on the top of his left foot and scored 13 points. Key substitute Marquis Daniels sat out the previous 29 games following surgery for a torn ligament in his left thumb and finished with eight points.</p><p>Carter started the 19-0 spurt with a 3-pointer. Howard then picked up his fourth foul with 5:58 left in the quarter but remained in the game, and Carter followed with a three-point play. Then the Magic, the most prolific 3-point shooting team in the NBA, made three straight — by Lewis, Carter and Lewis again — for a 66-60 lead. Howard then dunked an alley-oop pass from Matt Barnes and Jameer Nelson followed with a driving layup.</p><p>Tony Allen finally scored for the Celtics on two free throws, cutting Orlando's lead to 70-62 with 1:33 left in the third. But the Magic got the final six points of the quarter on two free throws by Lewis and a layup and two free throws by Jason Williams — giving them 25 of the last 27 points in the period.</p><p>The Celtics led 34-29 when Howard picked up his third foul and left the game with 8:26 left in the second quarter. The Magic tied it at 34 on a 3-pointer by Carter and a layup by Williams.</p><p>Then Boston went on a 12-2 run, starting with Rasheed Wallace's basket from the left corner and ending with Pierce's 3-pointer off a behind-the-back pass from Rondo. That gave the Celtics a 46-36 lead with 1:59 left in the half and they led 51-40 at intermission.</p><p>Kevin Garnett, scoreless in the first half, scored Boston's first three baskets in the third quarter to maintain the 11-point lead at 57-46. But Orlando went on a 14-3 run, tying the game at 60 on a 3-pointer by Lewis with 4:36 left in the period.</p><p>NOTES: Garnett had nine rebounds, moving into 20th place all-time with 11,960. He passed Dennis Rodman, who had 11,954. ... Boston is 1-7 combined against Orlando and Atlanta, two of the top four teams in the East. ... Orlando improved to 15-12 on the road while Boston fell to 15-9 at home.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=68650010&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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