Dwight Howard had 23 points and 22 rebounds after challenging Stan Van Gundy's coaching strategy, and the Orlando Magic beat visiting Boston, 83-75, last night to force a decisive Game 7.

Rashard Lewis had 20 points, and Hedo Turkoglu made a three-pointer to highlight an 11-2 run to close the game for the Magic, which hasn't made it to the conference finals since 1996.

"We came out from the get-go ready to play. That's what it takes," Howard said. "It's all about defense and we played great defense."

Rajon Rondo finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds and six assists, and Paul Pierce scored 17 for the Celtics, who led by 10 points in the second half before falling apart. Game 7 is Sunday in Boston.

The Celtics also failed to close out the Chicago Bulls in Game 6 of their first-round series, a triple-overtime epic. Boston will now go the distance in its first two series for the second straight year.

Boston had chances.

The Celtics held the Magic scoreless for more than five minutes to start the third quarter, building a 10-point lead on a jumper by Glen "Big Baby" Davis. But Howard led the Magic back, with a backspin alley-oop from Turkoglu that highlighted a spurt to end the third quarter. Orlando took its first lead with 8:38 remaining in the fourth.

Pierce hit three straight jumpers to give Boston a 73-72 lead with about four minutes to play, but the Celtics were done in by their 3-for-18 shooting from three-point range and 19 turnovers. Ray Allen missed all seven attempts from behind the arc.

Howard blamed Van Gundy for not getting the ball more after the Magic's Game 5 collapse.

"You've got a dominant player, let him be dominant," Howard said.

He scored the first eight points of the game for the Magic and finished 9-for-16 shooting.

In another game:

* At Houston, the Rockets came up with one more stunning victory to set up a final showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Aaron Brooks scored 26 points, Luis Scola added 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the scrappy, undermanned Rockets pushed the top-seeded Lakers to the brink in their Western Conference semifinal series with a 95-80 win in Game 6.

Reserve Carl Landry scored 15 as the Rockets built another huge lead in the first half, then fought off a Lakers rally to force Game 7 on Sunday at the Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant scored 32 and Pau Gasol added 14 for Los Angeles.

Noteworthy

Miles, 27, was alone in his car in suburban Fairview Heights, Ill., Wednesday night when an officer pulled him over for allegedly failing to use a turn signal, police Sgt. Steve Evans said. During a search of the car, Evans said police found a small amount of marijuana in a plastic bag in the passenger compartment.

* Dallas forward Josh Howard will be in New York next week for a second opinion on his left ankle. Howard missed 22 games this season because of the ankle. *