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Dwight Howard scored 24 points, Rashard Lewis had 22 and the Orlando Magic sent the visiting Celtics to their first loss of the season, 104-102 on Sunday night.

 "It feels great to get the win," said Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu, who finished with 16 points, including a pair of key three-pointers down the stretch. "We did our thing. We played hard; we stuck together until the last second and finished it."

   Jameer Nelson added 18 points for the Magic, whose fourth straight win improved their record to 9-2 under new head coach Stan Van Gundy.

 At 8-0, the Celtics were off to the fourth-best start in the franchise's storied history. However, that ended when Paul Pierce missed a potential game-winning three-pointer on the final play of the game.

 "I thought I had a good look at a three," said Pierce, who wasted a game-high 28-point effort. "I saw about one or two seconds left, and I could have drove and tied the game up, but I went with my instincts. It didn't go our way today."

   The Celtics also received 19 points from Ray Allen. Rajon Rondo had 18 on 8-of-9 shooting while Kevin Garnett contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out in the final seconds.

 "We're not perfect and we didn't think we were going to go 82-0," Garnett said. "But we're a team with character, we play hard and we play together. We'll learn from this and we'll apply this to our next game."

   In an early season Eastern Conference showdown between the teams with best records, the Magic built a 17-point halftime lead that eventually ballooned to 20, two minutes into the third quarter.

 "In the first half, they realised it was a big game for them and they really competed while we just showed up," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said. "We punched back and decided to play in the second half. But it's tough when you spot a team 20 points."

   The Celtics chipped away and grabbed a short-lived 88-87 edge when James Posey nailed a three-pointer with six minutes to play.

 The Magic didn't panic, though. Turkoglu's three-pointer capped a 7-0 run that made it 93-88. Minutes later, the Turkish native buried another one, for a 98-92 margin with just over three minutes remaining.

 "I just saw big openings, so I had to throw it in," Turkoglu said.

 The Celtics pulled to within 101-99, but failed to regain the lead, when Allen and Eddie House each missed 3-pointers with 20 seconds to go.

 Lewis made two free throws, but Allen hit a three-pointer off an inbounds pass, trimming the Magic's lead to 103-102 with seven ticks left.

 Lewis hit one-of-two free throws, giving the Celtics a final shot at the win. However, Pierce missed the three-pointer and Howard took the rebound to end the game.

 "We missed some wide-open threes," Rivers said. "And that last shot with Paul, we told him we'd rather he attack the basket."

   Elsewhere    LA Lakers 106, Chicago Bulls 78    Kobe Bryant scored 18 points and the Lakers ran off the final 15 points of the game-breaking third quarter, to record their most lopsided victory over the Bulls in the all-time rivalry.

 Reserves Jordan Farmar had 14 points and eight assists while Andrew Byanum added 14 points along with 10 rebounds for the Lakers (6-3), who outscored the Bulls 61-32 in the second half en route to their third consecutive victory.

 Ben Gordon scored 20 points for the struggling Bulls (2-7) who fell to 6-49 on their annual West Coast trip since 1999, when the circus occupies United Centre.

 Golden State Warriors 106, Toronto Raptors 100    Stephen Jackson scored 17 points, and Baron Davis tallied nine of his 16 during a decisive 21-6 fourth quarter, sparking the visiting Warriors to their second straight victory.

 Rookie Kelenna Azubuike had 16 points while Andris Biedrins finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Warriors (2-6) who outscored the Raptors 26-12 in the final frame.

 TJ Ford led the Raptors with 29 points.

 Sacramento Kings 105, Detroit Pistons 95    Beno Udrih scored 23 points and Kevin Martin added 19, helping the Kings pull away from the travel-weary Pistons.

 Ron Artest had 16 points and Brad Miller contributed 15 for the Kings (4-6) who improved to 4-1 at home.

 Tayshaun Prince had 19 points, Rick Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace chipped in with 17 apiece for the Pistons (6-4) who finished 2-3 on their West Coast road trip.

 Ahead 94-92 with 2:14 left, Wallace was called for a foul on Miller. He and assistant coach Dave Cowens were each hit with technical fouls for arguing. Martin made both free throws, and Miller followed with two more, opening up a six-point advantage.

By Paul Levine, dpa