ORLANDO, Fla. — The Boston Celtics might be taking an extra road trip to defend their title.

It's a detour that might go through the Magic Kingdom.

Dwight Howard blocked a potential go-ahead layup by Paul Pierce with 3.8 seconds left, and the Orlando Magic clinched their second straight Southeast Division title with an 84-82 win over the Celtics last night.

Howard had 24 points and 21 rebounds as the Magic (53-18) bumped Boston (54-19) by percentage points for second in the Eastern Conference. Orlando remains five games back of Cleveland for the conference lead with 11 games left. The Magic took the division title with Atlanta's loss to San Antonio.

"We get another banner," Howard said. "Hopefully we can get two more."

Pierce hit a jumper to cut Orlando's lead to 83-82 with 1:27 left, but the Celtics couldn't make up the difference without Kevin Garnett, who was limited to 16 minutes with a right knee strain. Pierce then missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it for Boston.

Rashard Lewis had 21 points, and Hedo Turkoglu added 13 points for the Magic, who nearly blew a 16-point lead before holding on for their fourth straight win.

"I'm sure we'll see them again," Lewis said. "If we want to get to that ultimate goal, we'll have to go through Boston and Cleveland."

WIZARDS 95, BOBCATS 93:

Antawn Jamison scored 27 points, Nick Young had 23 and host Washington held off Charlotte. Mike James and Andray Blatche added 15 points each for the Wizards, who rallied from a 20-point deficit. Gerald Wallace led Charlotte with 21 points, but missed a potential tying free throw with 6.5 seconds left.

CAVALIERS 98, NETS 87:

LeBron James and these Cleveland Cavaliers have risen to the top. James scored 22 points with 11 assists as host Cleveland set a franchise record with its 58th win — and 10th straight — by beating New Jersey. The Cavs surpassed the club mark of 57 wins shared by the 1988-89 and 1991-92 teams.

SPURS 102, HAWKS 92:

Tony Parker scored 42 points and San Antonio, playing without Tim Duncan (knee), ended Atlanta's eight-game home winning streak. Parker enjoyed his second-best scoring total of the season. He set a career high with 55 points at Minnesota on Nov. 5.

PACERS 90, HEAT 88:

Danny Granger scored 28 points and Indiana continued its home-court mastery of Dwyane Wade and Miami. Indiana trailed by four early in the fourth but took control with a 13-1 run midway through the quarter and held on for its 17th straight win at home against the Heat.

MAVERICKS 128, WARRIORS 106:

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry came back from a four-day break as sharp as ever and J.J. Barea led a late surge, helping host Dallas cruise past Golden State. Nowitzki and Terry each finished with 26 points, and Barea had 20 as the Mavericks shot 58.5 percent and scored their most points of the season.

SUNS 118, JAZZ 114:

Grant Hill scored 26 points, including a tiebreaking jumper in the lane with 31.5 seconds left, to lift host Phoenix to its season-high sixth straight win. The win kept the Suns three games behind the Dallas Mavericks in their push for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

RAPTORS 115, BUCKS 106:

Andrea Bargnani scored 23 points, and Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon had double-doubles to lead host Toronto. Bosh had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Calderon added 19 points and 11 assists for the Raptors.

CLIPPERS 140, KNICKS 135:

Mike Taylor more than doubled his career high with 35 points, Zach Randolph added 33 against his former team, and visiting Los Angeles outlasted New York. Al Thornton scored 21 and Eric Gordon had 19 for the Clippers.

NUGGETS 101, HORNETS 88:

Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and visiting Denver snapped New Orleans' three-game winning streak. Chauncey Billups scored 26 points, hitting four 3-pointers in the second half to help the Nuggets pull away.

76ERS 96, TIMBERWOLVES 88:

Thaddeus Young scored 29 points and Andre Miller had 15 to lead host Philadelphia past Minnesota. Rodney Carney scored 21 points and Craig Smith had 20 for the Timberwolves.