ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Celtics coach Doc Rivers is going to be cautious with how hard he pushes Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce over Boston’s final two games of the regular season.
At the same time he doesn’t want his aging stars out of game shape entering the playoffs.
An easy night against the Orlando Magic allowed him to satisfy both concerns.
Courtney Lee scored 20 points and Jeff Green added 17 as the Celtics cruised to a 120-88 victory over the Magic on Saturday night.
The win locked up the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference for Boston, which never trailed in beating Orlando for the eighth straight time.
“It’s a fine line between rest and health,” Pierce said. “With this team you want to be as healthy as we can get at this point. Right now we’re as healthy as we’re gonna be for the rest of the season. … If we play the next couple of games or if we didn’t, the most important thing is that we’re ready for the playoffs.”
All five Celtics starters reached double figures, with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce scoring 14 and 12 points, respectively, after sitting out Friday against Miami.
Tobias Harris led the Magic with 22 points, and Nik Vucevic added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Orlando hasn’t won back-to-back games since December. The Magic play their final home game of season on Monday against Chicago, and head to Miami for the season finale on Wednesday.
With the rest afforded to the veterans and extra playing time to the younger players, Celtics coach Doc Rivers feels good about his team in spite of the surprises dealt to it this season. He said he feels like the players are setting themselves up for a “pretty good run.”
“I like our team. I like our team a lot,” Rivers said. “The key for us is to get through these two games, have some great practices and get ready for the playoffs. That’s what you play the whole season for.”
The Celtics conclude their regular-season schedule against Indiana on Tuesday and at Toronto on Wednesday.
After resting their sore ankles the previous night, Celtics coach Doc Rivers re-inserted Pierce and Garnett into the starting lineup against the Magic.
They made an immediate impact, combining for 20 first-half points as the Celtics built a 20-point halftime advantage.