ORLANDO, Fla., April 8 (UPI) -- J.J. Redick made two free throws with 11 seconds left Wednesday and Orlando survived two misses by O.J. Mayo to defeat Memphis 81-78.
The narrow victory allowed Orlando to stay within one game of Boston for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Celtics had a close call of their own Wednesday before downing New Jersey 106-104.
Orlando rallied from an eight-point deficit at the start of the fourth period to take a three-point lead on a free throw by Rafer Alston with 17 seconds remaining.
Rudy Gay's layup brought Memphis within one with 12 seconds to go, after which Redick hit his two foul shots for the final points of the game.
Mayo missed a 3-point try with 3 seconds left, but Marc Gasol claimed an offensive rebound and got the ball to Mayo for another long-range attempt just before the buzzer. That also missed, leaving Orlando with its third win in four games.
Memphis has lost two straight after winning four in a row.
Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic with 20 points and Dwight Howard had 14. Gay scored 18 for Memphis, which hit only one 3-pointer in 11 attempts.
