BOSTON - Danny Ainge was crucified when he decided to bring Stephon Marbury to Boston.

Howard's three-point play opened the fourth quarter and pushed the Magic lead to double digits at 70-59.

But Marbury connected on an 18-foot jumper.

Then he made another long jumper from just inside the three-point line.

The Celtics couldn't stop Orlando, but the Magic had no answer for Starbury.

Instead of the lead growing to 20 or so, Marbury kept Boston within striking distance.

Mickael Pietrus appeared to throw the knockout punch with a pull-up jumper that resulted in a three-point play and a 75-63 advantage with less than 10 minutes to play, but Marbury answered with a three-pointer and followed with a 20-foot jumper to cut the lead to single digits.

Marbury would add one more three-point play — a drive with less than six minutes left in the game that cut the deficit to 83-75 — before relinquishing the game-winning heroics to Allen, who knocked down a three-pointer with 1:20 remaining that gave Boston its first lead since the Celtics were ahead, 8-6.

"They won it for us," Rivers said of the unit that consisted of reserves Marbury, Eddie House, Brian Scalabrine and two other guys he couldn't remember.

No, it was Marbury who won it.

Ainge's decision to roll the dice was worth it for the six or so minutes in which Marbury looked like, well, Starbury again.

He is a 32-year-old New York Knicks cast-off that the organization sent to exile rather than having him anywhere near their current team. They told him to stay away and don't come back.

When he finally became a free agent after coming to a financial settlement with the Knicks, Marbury chose the Celtics over a few other interested parties. Most felt it was a train wreck waiting to happen. There was no way this egomaniac would buy into his role of being Rondo's water boy.

But he's made no waves, hasn't complained about being a bit player and has had his moments since making his debut on Feb. 27.

"I'm happy for him. He's been great for us," Rivers said of Marbury. "He's hung in there."

"He's been put in a tough situation," Pierce added.

But none have compared to his 12-point fourth-quarter performance that completely altered the complexion of the series.

"I haven't had any in a while," Marbury responded when asked about his last clutch performance. "I'll be honest with you."

The truth now is that the Magic have added yet another choke job to their résumé after watching a 14-point fourth-quarter lead virtually disappear as quickly as you can say, "Where the heck did Dwight Howard go?'' They went more than 5 ½ minutes without a point down the stretch.

"We had an eight-point lead with four minutes to go and we just quit playing," Van Gundy said.

Howard finished with 12 points and barely touched the ball when his team was in desperate need of a bucket late in the game.

"I don't think you are going to win a lot of games when your post player only gets 10 shots," Howard said. "It's tough to get yourself going and get a lot of shots without a lot of touches."

Ten shots. The exact same number that Marbury hoisted up.