ORLANDO, Fla. — The pressure is back on the defending champions.

Dwight Howard had 23 points and 22 rebounds after challenging Stan Van Gundy's coaching strategy, and the Orlando Magic rallied past the Boston Celtics, 83-75, last night to force a Game 7.

"I just tried to be me," Howard said. "I just have to go out there and play and not worry about nothing."

And what did the center learn from his comments?

"Biggest lesson?" Howard said. "Keep my mouth shut."

Rashard Lewis had 20 points, and Hedo Turkoglu made a 3-pointer to highlight an 11-2 run to close the game for the Magic, who haven't made it to the conference finals since 1996. But it was Howard who the Magic leaned on after he called out Van Gundy for not getting the ball enough in Game 5.

"I guess Dwight Howard was right," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "He was unbelievable."

The Celtics also failed to close out the Chicago Bulls in Game 6 of their first-round series, a triple-overtime epic. Boston will now go the distance in its first two series for the second straight year.

"They fought back. We had double-digit leads, but we couldn't get the punchout," said Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, who finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds and six assists.

Paul Pierce added 17 points for the Celtics, who led by 10 in the second half before falling apart. Game 7 is Sunday in Boston.