As the shots fell for the Celtics , frustrations rose for the Magic. At the end of the third quarter, Rafer Alston smacked Celtics guard Eddie House on the back of the head after he said House elbowed him. Later, J.J. Redick picked up his sixth foul and a technical, getting tossed from the game.

``That's the first time really in a long time, certainly in the playoffs, that we've gotten our butts kicked,'' Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said.

Following the game, Dwight Howard (12 points, 12 rebounds) sat in the Magic locker room staring at the box score. Near the bottom of the page, the most telling statistic showed the Celtics had outscored the Magic in the paint, 40-24.

``It starts with me on both ends,'' Howard said. ``The first game, I was more active on the defensive end. I was able to block shots, rebound, run the floor, and be aggressive.

``Tonight it just wasn't there. So it starts with me and I understand that the team is going to follow my lead and if I'm not out there playing Dwight Howard Basketball, then the rest of my guys aren't going to fall in line.''

A dismal defensive effort was to blame. Paul Pierce may have been held to 3 points with four fouls in 16 minutes, but the Celtics didn't need him. House came off the bench to score a game-high 31, shooting 11 of 14 from the field, 4 of 4 from 3-point range.

``Our defense was terrible,'' Redick said. ``They pretty much got whatever they wanted, and when that happens, obviously, you're going to get frustrated. We didn't take away anything on the pick-and-roll, we didn't take away anything on the catch-and-shoot.

``Eddie House probably had one of the greatest shooting performances I've ever seen. They just got what they wanted.''

No matter how bad the loss, the Magic return home with the series tied, 1-1.

Through most of Game 1, Orlando experienced the euphoria of shots that couldn't miss and a defense that forced the Celtics to scramble. Orlando led by as many as 28 before the Celtics mounted a comeback that came up short.

Van Gundy said he doesn't believe the Celtics carried any momentum from the last half of Game 1 into last night.

``I think there's momentum in a game, but I don't really think there is after 48 hours,'' he said.

There are questions to be answered for the Magic as they head into Game 3. It remains to be seen whether Alston's slap will lead to a suspension and whether rookie Courtney Lee will be available to play for the first time in this series after having surgery to repair a fracture in his sinus cavity nearly a week ago.

Van Gundy said he is only concerned about the things he can control.

``You have to be happy to be at 1-1,'' said the coach, ``but there's some big adjustments that we have to make, and No. 1 we have to rise the intensity level that they've had over the last game and a half. We haven't done that at this point.

``I think we are going to have to, in a series like this, keep our composure better, and I'm not even talking about the thing with Rafer or J.J.; to me, those may be things that you can point to, but I'm talking about holding our composure in when we're frustrated to just to gather ourselves and be able to execute on both ends of the floor. We haven't done that well in the last game and a half.

``It's not an easy thing to raise your intensity level and keep your composure and your emotions under control, but it's going to take both of those for us to win this series.''

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com