BOSTON — Dwight Howard sat at his locker in front of a deep contingent of media members and talked about how the defending Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic are more talented than they were last year, and how they have plans of returning to the NBA Finals.

If everything goes according to Howard’s plan, not even the Boston Celtics will be able to stop them.

“I just know that if we get better as individuals, it will be hard to beat us,” the Orlando center said.

But the Celtics will have something to say about that at the end of the season.

Last night, however, it was the Magic who were the better team. Returning to the scene of the crime where they eliminated the Celtics from the playoffs last season in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference semifinals in front of a sellout crowd of 18,624 and millions more watching on TV, the Magic established their early-season supremacy in the East with an 83-78 triumph over the Celtics.

“I think we’re doing pretty good, but we want to be rolling when it comes time for the playoffs,” Howard said. “Right now we are just trying to get better…. I think we are going to be a better team in January and February than we are now.”

It was an uphill battle for the Celtics right from the start as they fell behind by 16 after one quarter of play.

But the Celtics refused to be embarrassed on their home court. The Celtics clawed their way back into the game and cut the Magic lead to 75-74 after a Kevin Garnett (13 points, 11 rebounds) jumper, followed by a Rasheed Wallace (9 points, 13 rebounds) steal and a Paul Pierce (21 points) layup with 5:16 remaining.

Vince Carter (26 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) answered with a jumper and free throw to give the Magic a 78-74 cushion. The Celtics missed three consecutive shots on their next possession but got three offensive rebounds and scored on their fourth shot, a Garnett layup with 3:26 to go.

After getting a stop, Wallace tied the game up with an 8-foot jumper with 2:54 remaining, but Carter came right back with a jumper after an Orlando timeout stopped Boston’s momentum.

Rashard Lewis (16 points, 10 rebounds) extended Orlando’s lead to 82-78 with two free throws with 58.4 seconds left, and the Celtics called a timeout to draw up a play that would get them closer.

After the break, Ray Allen (15 points, 6 assists) tried to take the ball to the basket, but he was stripped by Jason Williams (7 points, 6 assists), who made a free throw with 10.5 seconds left to ice the game.

Orlando improves to 10-3 with the win and the Celtics are now 9-4.

The Celtics couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start, and the Magic couldn’t have asked for a better one.

Boston began the game by missing 11 of its first 14 shots. They missed layups, tip-ins, and wide-open jumpers. They played sloppy throughout the game.

The Magic, meanwhile, knocked down seven of their first eight shots, and nine of their first 12 (4-for-5 from 3-point line) to set the tone and take a 24-10 lead before the Celtics knew what hit them.

The Celtics rallied from a 29-13 first-quarter deficit to slash Orlando’s lead to 43-40 by halftime, but Orlando refused to be denied.

But Boston center Kendrick Perkins, who held Howard (9 points, 15 rebounds) to just five points in the first half, picked up his fifth foul just 4:36 into the third quarter, which forced him to the bench. After that, the Magic were able to pound the ball inside, which in turn opened things up again for their jump shooters.

The Celtics will look to bounce back Sunday, when they visit the struggling New York Knicks.

rlee@projo.com