Paul Pierce will have to put away the broom he had planned on using since Dwight Howard and his Orlando Magic decided they weren’t ready for summer vacation just yet.

Dwight Howard had 32 points and 16 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson made back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime to lead the Orlando Magic to a 96-92 victory over the Boston Celtics on Monday night to avoid a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference finals.

Paul Pierce had 32 points and 11 rebounds, and Kevin Garnett had 14 points and 12 boards for Boston. Ray Allen hit consecutive 3-pointers in overtime, but Pierce missed two tries in the final minute as the Magic cut the Celtics series lead to 3-1.

Nelson finished with 23 points and nine assists for the defending Eastern Conference champions, who were up by 10 in the second quarter and  up 85-78 with 2:24 left in regulation before the Celts rallied to send the game into OT knotted up at 86.

Only four times in the history of the North American major pro sports leagues has a team come back to win a playoff series after losing the first three games. It’s been done three times in the NHL — most recently this month by the Flyers in the same building where the Celtics play– and once in baseball, when the Boston Red Sox came back to beat the New York Yankees in the 2004 AL Championship Series.

Game 5 will be Wednesday night in Orlando.

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