Orlando Magic guard Anthony Johnson has been on the receiving end of two massive fourth-quarter playoff meltdowns in Boston.
As Jason Kidd's backup in 2002, Johnson watched in utter disbelief as the Celtics rallied from a 26-point deficit to stun the Nets, 94-90, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. Johnson had the same vantage point Tuesday night as his team frittered away a 14-point lead with nine minutes left to lose, 92-88, and fall behind 3-2 in the series. While the New Jersey collapse was more pronounced because of the deficit, the veteran guard felt what transpired Tuesday was far more painful.
``In the other game, Paul Pierce just took the game over and carried the team on his shoulders. He just controlled the fourth quarter and kept getting to the foul line,'' said Johnson. ``In this game, I just felt like we gave it away. We just missed defensive coverages and they wound up with layups and wide open jump shots.
``We have to do what we did back then and that was to block it out of our minds. We can't do anything about what happened, the game is in the past and we have to move on and get ready for the game in Orlando.''
The frustrating part from a Magic standpoint is that they played a textbook game for 40 minutes, picking the Celtics apart at both ends of the floor, while building a seemingly insurmountable 77-63 lead with 8:49 left when Mickael Pietrus dunked an alley oop feed from Johnson.
Even with the Celtics showing slight signs of a pulse over the next few minutes, the margin was still in double digits (85-75) with five minutes left. But the visitors suddenly couldn't find the range down the stretch, failing to make another field goal.
``It was pretty grueling to watch,'' Johnson said. ``We started running the shot clock down and wound up taking tough shots against their set defense. Everyone in the NBA knows how tough it is to go up against the Celtics when you allow them to set up their defense.''
As a result of the tough finish, the Magic are put in a position where they have to defeat the defending NBA champions twice, including once on the parquet. Johnson believes the odds are against the Magic, but feels confident they can turn the tables, much like the Nets did in 2002.
``We can't worry about what the percentages are. We feel that we can win two in a row and the first one starts (tonight) in Orlando,'' he said. ``We feel like we're the better team. We've outplayed them for the most part, but we haven't finished games.''
- dventura@bostonherald.com
