ORLANDO - Doc Rivers got his team back on track while gaining a measure of revenge on his former team as the Celtics ended a four-game losing streak, beating the Magic 117-101 Monday night.
Orlando fired Rivers a year ago, after four-plus seasons, when it started 1-10. Rivers, the league coach of the year in 2001, went 171-168 and made the playoffs three times.
Paul Pierce scored 24, leading seven players in double figures, and Marcus Banks had a season-high 20 off the bench as Boston set a season high for points. Boston shot 47 percent and made 26 of 31 free throws.
The Celtics led by 10 midway through the first quarter, 20 early in the second and 27 with 5:37 left in the first half.
The Magic cut it to 94-82 on Hedo Turkoglu's fadeaway jumper 30 seconds into the fourth. But the Celtics sealed it with an 11-2 run. Banks' three-point play with 6:23 left capped it and put Boston up 105-84.
BUCKS: Reserve center Daniel Santiago scratched a cornea during practice and will miss 7-10 days.
CELTICS: Guard Delonte West is out indefinitely after breaking his right hand Sunday against Miami. It was the rookie's second game since coming off the injured list after breaking his right thumb during the preseason.
HORNETS: Center Jamaal Magloire will not need surgery but still will miss up to three months with a dislocated right ring finger sustained Friday against Phoenix. An All-Star last season, he has averaged 14 points and nine rebounds.
JAZZ: Forward Andrei Kirilenko will miss at least two weeks with a sprained medical collateral ligament in his right knee. He collied with San Antonio's Beno Udrih on Saturday. An All-Star last season, his third, Kirilenko is second for Utah in scoring (14.8 points) and rebounding (7.2).
MAVERICKS: Assistant Avery Johnson will lead the team tonight. Coach Don Nelson will be on the bench but leave all decisions to Johnson. Nelson, signed through next season, hopes Johnson will succeed him and plans to let him coach five or six games this season. He chose San Antonio as the first game because Johnson is familiar with it, having played there for most of his career.
NUGGETS: Carmelo Anthony sat out Monday's game because of a sprained right ankle. The forward was on a fastbreak Saturday when Houston's Bob Sura bear-hugged him, and the two tumbled out of bounds. Anthony, averaging 19.6 points and 6.2 rebounds, hopes to play Thursday against Cleveland and friend LeBron James.
