BOSTON, May 7 – Eddie House scored 31 points and Rajon Rondo had a triple double as the defending champion Boston Celtics rebounded from a game one loss to beat Orlando 112-94 in game two of their playoff series.
Rondo had 15 points, 18 assists and 11 rebounds and House hit 11-of-14 shots for the Celtics who came out with plenty of spark Wednesday to level their best-of-seven series at one game each.
"It was a matter of me having energy on the court," House said. "I just tried to get my hands on the ball and keep guys in front of me."
The National Basketball Association quarter-final series now switches to Orlando for game three.
Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis led the attack for the Magic. Lewis had 17 points and 10 rebounds while Howard has 12 points and 12 rebounds.
"That’s a championship team," Howard said. "When one player’s not playing as good, everybody else picks it up."
House lauded Rondo for his all-around effort.
"He picked it up right where he left off the last game," House said. "That is what we need from him. Everybody else follows suit."
This was the fifth career triple double for Rondo who also finished one assist shy of his career high.
"I was sluggish to start game one and didn’t come out with enough passion," Rondo said. "And that will never happen again."
Ray Allen scored 22 points for Boston while star Paul Pierce had an off night collecting four fouls before taking a seat on the bench.
"They got what they wanted: They got a win. Now they have home court," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We have to go there trying to get wins."
The Magic fell behind by 26 points at one point in the second quarter before cutting the deficit to 15 at the half.
"I’ve seen some great shooting shows in my life, but that was unbelievable," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We didn’t take away anything; they got everything they wanted. They just had us running around. And we did not handle it well."
