Boston Celtics 90, Orlando Magic 80

It was billed as a matchup of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference (Cleveland you are 1a or 1b or 1c... I do not think there is much of a difference right now). It turned out to be a growing moment for a young and inexperienced Orlando team.

With the pressure squarely on the Magic to perform and prove they belonged in the conversation of title contenders after a 4-0 junket out West, the Celtics took the game away from them and told the world they are still the world champs.

Orlando has a long way to go.

It was a struggle all night for Orlando. The Celtics struggled to collect rebounds in the first quarter, allowing the Magic to hang around and cling to a lead. But once they fixed that problem, they were in complete control despite never pulling away.

The game never seemed to have a playoff-intensity on Orlando's side (I watched it on TV so I did not have the comfort of Amway Arena to tell me otherwise). Part of that can be attributed to the Celtics' dominating defense.

Few teams can cover Dwight Howard one-on-one. Boston is one of those teams. When no one doubles Howard, it makes things very difficult for Orlando to get open jump shooters.

With Howard bottled up in the paint, it looked like he became uninterested at times and was more or less a ghost -- on a night he was named a starter for the All Star Game with a league-high vote total of more than 3 million votes.

The perimeter players could not get into the paint and draw Celtic players off their man. There were no holes for the Magic to create offense and it suffered in probably the worst offensive performance of the season.

Orlando played very well defensively. Despite shooting just more than 30 percent all game, it never got out of hand. But when Boston needed a shot, the team went to Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett and got a good shot.

That is why they are the champs and Orlando is not.

This game was an aberration. The Magic clearly showed that at the end of the game when they started penetrating and getting into the paint and getting the space to make the extra pass.

I think (and this point was made by Doug Collins on the broadcast) that the four-day break hurt Orlando immensely. Sitting around after such a productive trip can make any team lose its rhythm -- especially against a great team like Boston. But doing that while hearing everyone talk about how great you are can be disconcerting for a young and relatively inexperienced team like Orlando.

The real test is going to be in Miami on Saturday. The Magic have to have a good effort to keep this from becoming a trend.

After beating the Celtics 2-1 last year, it appears they have the Magic's number. Let's hope Orlando does not see them in the postseason.