But they did come close, as Paul Pierce was named to the second team with 330 votes, second-most on the second team behind Tim Duncan. The Celtics captain also received 39 first-team votes.

The first team includes LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. In addition to Pierce and Duncan, the second team features Yao Ming, Brandon Roy and Chris Paul. Carmelo Anthony, Shaquille O'Neal, Pau Gasol, Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker were on the third team.

Other Celts players were considered. Garnett, despite missing 33 regular-season games and all of the playoffs to a strained right knee muscle, received 72 votes, the second-most of any player (behind Utah's Deron Williams) not to make any of the three teams. Ray Allen received six votes, and, as a sign of his rising stock, Rajon Rondo got two.

Time is now

Now that Howard has publicly criticized Stan Van Gundy for limiting his touches as well as his court time in this series, many consider it the death knell for the Magic against the C's, and maybe even for Orlando's emotional coach.

C's coach Doc Rivers surely has heard the rumblings, but he won't let that detract from what the Magic can accomplish at home in Game 6.

``It's huge,'' Rivers said of tonight's game in Orlando. ``We have to get it any way we can. We're really grinding it out right now. I don't know if people appreciate the minutes guys have played and the effect it has on the legs, but we have to come in with the right mindset.''

In other words, a killer instinct would be nice.

``Obviously being the game that can send them home, you can't come in lightly,'' Allen said. ``Go in with a business approach knowing that every little thing, we have to do.

``They'll go on runs, but we know that sticking together is what makes us better throughout this series, throughout last series and hopefully going into the future.''

Bouncing back

Though they haven't always won in the process, the Celtics have come back in this series from 28 points (Game 1), 20 (Game 3) and one point with 11.3 seconds left in Game 4. In Game 5, they rallied back from 14 down with 8:49 left and 10 with 5:40 left.

``We have great resiliency,'' Allen said. ``That's one thing we can say about each other. We fight tooth and nail. We know the fourth quarter is the time to win a Basketball game. Being down 10, 15 or 20 points, we can deal with that.''

Read the Celtics Insider at bostonherald.com.