ORLANDO, Fla. _ Orlando Magic fans, check out that asterisk next to your team's name in the Eastern Conference standings.
It means your team is going to the NBA playoffs.
Yes, you read that right. The Orlando Magic are back in the playoffs.
And they got there by earning it the hard way _ on the road in Boston.
Terrence Ross scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and the Magic found their offense in the second half as they earned arguably the biggest victory in the past six seasons by beating the Boston Celtics 116-108 Sunday night at TD Garden.
The victory clinched the franchise's first playoff appearance since the 2011-12 season and earned the Magic their first Southeast Division title since 2010.
Nikola Vucevic finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Evan Fournier had 24 points for the Magic, who are 21-9 in their past 30 games.
"It feels incredible," Vucevic said. "A whole year fighting, the ups and downs. We made it the hard way. We had to come in and win a tough building and we did it. I'm so proud of this team. No one thought we could make it. ... It's an amazing feeling."
The Magic (41-40) outscored the Celtics 68-56 in the second half as the swept a season series from Boston for the first time since 1996-97.
"We want to be a factor in the playoffs, but man it feels good," he said. "... Like I said at the beginning of the season, for us, it means so much. We've lost so many games and we've struggled so much these last few years."
Kyrie Irving led the Celtics (48-33) with 23 points.
A playoff berth never felt so good.
The Magic scored the first five points of the third quarter to set the tone for a 35-point frame. Trailing 69-68, they went on a 10-3 run to get control.
After a Fournier three-point play made it 99-85, it looked the Magic were on their way. But the Celtics rallied behind Irving, whose 3 tied it at 106-106.
But Fournier snapped the tie with a driving dunk over a defender as the Magic scored 10 of the final 12 points of the game.
The Celtics used a 17-5 run over a 4:55 stretch to build a 41-32 lead in the second quarter on a dunk by Daniel Theis.
The advantage reached 50-37 _ the largest of the game to that point _ on a long jumper by Irving as the Celtics appeared ready to pull away.
Bu the Magic battled back as Vucevic scored four quick points to spark an 11-2 run to close the quarter and trim the lead to four by halftime.
The Magic nearly clinched a playoff spot earlier in the day.
The Heat lost 117-109 in overtime to the Raptors, but the Hornets knocked off the Pistons 103-91. Had both lost, the Magic would have earned a playoff spot and the Southeast Division title before taking on the Celtics.
The loss in Toronto left the Heat needing the Pistons or Nets to lose to keep their playoff hopes alive. They got the help they needed when the Hornets knocked off the Pistons.
Now the Heat must win their final two games and get two losses by the Pistons to reach the playoffs.
If they don't, guard Dwyane Wade's illustrious 16-year career will end with him missing the postseason for just the third time.
The Heat play host to the 76ers on Tuesday before closing the season Wednesday in Brooklyn against the Nets.
The Nets improved to 41-40 as they clinched a playoff spot with a 108-96 win over the Pacers in Indianapolis and held onto the sixth spot in the standings.
With the Heat losing and the Nets winning, the Pistons would have clinched a berth had they won. Instead, they'll have to beat the Grizzlies (Tuesday) and the Knicks (Wednesday) to increase their chances.
The Magic, meanwhile, will finish the regular season no worse than eighth. But if they win in Charlotte on Wednesday to finish 42-40, it could set up a potential three-way tie between the Magic, Nets and Pistons.
So how would the seeding shake out?
Under that scenario, the Magic would get the sixth spot over the Pistons and Nets thanks to them winning their division. For multi-way tie situations the first tiebreaker goes to a division winner, according to league rules.
For multi-way ties, the NBA says the first tiebreaker is: Division leader wins tie from team not leading a division.
Neither the Pistons (Central) nor Nets (Atlantic) are or will be division champions.
