Celtics coach Doc Rivers heaped praise on his players, particularly his backups, after Boston -- playing without captain Paul Pierce -- emerged with a defensive-minded 86-77 triumph Friday in Orlando.

“I thought everybody pitched in," said Rivers. "It is really difficult to play when two of your small forwards (Pierce and Marquis Daniels) are out of your offense and defense. I thought Tony [Allen] had stretches of great play and [Brian Scalabrine] had stretches of great play. The small lineup with Eddie [House] and Rajon [Rondo] was good.

"Our defense tonight, won the game. We talked about it for two days; the only way we were going to win this game was to attack as a defensive game. We were not going to come into Orlando, without Paul Pierce, and shoot them out of the game. We had to be a great defensive team and we were.”

The Celtics held Orlando to a season-low 33.3 percent (26 of 78) shooting from the field. The Magic's eight second-quarter points set a new franchise low, while the 27 first-half points tied the team record for fewest in a half.

Boston's Tony Allen logged 22 minutes while starting for Pierce and registered 16 points (on 6 of 11 shooting) and four rebounds.

“Basically, I just wanted to be aggressive out there," said Tony Allen. "That is what Doc said and I took that as a challenge ... I am still taking it one game at a time. It is a work in progress. Every day is a day to get better, and I think I used today to get better."

Noted Celtics guard Ray Allen: “We played fairly in unison with the team that we had out there with Paul sidelined. TA stepped up and played big for us. [Point guard] Rondo made some big plays for us down the stretch. I think it was an overall team effort and everyone stepped in and filled in where they could whenever they were out there.

"This was definitely a benchmark game for us because we have been talked about this game for a long time. We did what we had to do and took care of the game. We feel good about it and jelled as a team. This propels us going forward.”