Paul Pierce and the Celtics saved their best until it was too late on Monday night.

AP photo / Charles Krupa

BOSTON -- Boston coach Doc Rivers asked the Celtics to leave everything they had out on the court Monday night in Game One of their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup with the Orlando Magic.

They did just that, and nearly overcame a 28-point second-half deficit. But when it was all over, Orlando had survived a furious fourth-quarter Boston rally attempt and escaped TD Banknorth Garden with a 95-90 victory.

"We played flat," Rivers said. "We played with no energy in the first half, but it wasn't a fatigue factor."

Orlando used a 26-6 run over the final 8:42 of the second quarter, then opened up the third quarter with an 11-1 surge to build a 28-point lead before the Celtics came roaring back by picking up their intensity on defense, getting to the foul line, and making better decisions with the basketball.

"Clearly when we put pressure on them, it was a whole different game," Rivers said. "That's what we were supposed to do all game and we waited and we waited and waited. As poorly as we played, we had plenty of opportunities to win this game. That's a great sign. I don't know if we could've played any worse, and we still had a chance to win, so you'll take that."

The Celtics began the fourth quarter with a 23-11 surge that Glen Davis capped off with a reverse layup that slashed Orlando's lead to 89-85 with 2:08 remaining. But Rafer Alston answered with a running jumper with 1:47 left.

Paul Pierce came right back with two free throws, and after a Boston stop, Ray Allen had a clean look at a 3-pointer from the right wing. But his shot rimmed out, and the Magic got the rebound.

Orlando was called for an eight-second violation, however, giving the Celtics another chance with 35.1 seconds left. Pierce drove to the hoop and drew contact on a missed layup, but no foul was called.

J.J. Redick then made two free throws with 13 seconds left before Pierce buried a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining to make it 93-90. Redick iced the game for Orlando with two clutch free throws on Orlando's ensuing possession.

"You're always angry when you lose, but I thought we gave great effort in the second half," Rivers said. "I'm disappointed because we did have our opportunities, but it's tough when you put yourself in a hole against a good team like that."

Pierce wasn't surprised that the Celtics nearly pulled off the improbable comeback.

"We never feel like we're out of a ball game, but you never want to get down like that, especially at home," Pierce said. "There's no excuse for it. I know we can play better basketball than we did."

Several Magic players said that they got complacent after jumping out to the big second-half lead.

"In the second half we didn't play with the same energy and the same aggressiveness," Hedo Turkoglu said.

Rashard Lewis (18 points, 7 rebounds) and Dwight Howard (16 points, 22 rebounds) did the most damage against the Celtics, though six different Magic players scored in double figures.

Pierce led Boston with 23 points, and Rajon Rondo added 14 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.

Pierce got into foul trouble in the first half, and when Tony Allen replaced him midway through the second quarter, the Celtics went lethargic on offense (38.1 percent shooting), and allowed the Magic to shoot 55 percent in the momentum-changing quarter.

"I thought for the first 30-32 minutes of the game we probably played the best we've played all year," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Then for the last 16 minutes, we played as poorly as we possibly could at both ends of the floor. We could not handle Rajon Rondo's pressure. They had us flattened out totally offensively and they were just driving the ball. … The last 16 minutes were a debacle."

Rivers gave an emotional speech at halftime, but it didn't initially work. The Celtics began the second half flat before Rondo took it upon himself to get to the hole and spark the offense.

"Rondo is the key to this team," Davis said. "When he gets going, doing what he does best, it's hard to stop us."

The Celtics showed a lot of heart in the second half, but came up just short. Game Two will be played at the Garden on Wednesday.

"We know we can beat these guys when we play Celtics basketball," Davis said.

roblee@projo.com