"Times have changed. Glen Davis is a team captain, and E'Twaun Moore is a backup point guard on the same team getting regular minutes.

And the Celtics [team stats] are taking shots to the chin every time they step through the ropes.

But maybe this is the kind of conditioning they need — the kind of reminder they need that the league is catching up.

They went to overtime tonight to beat a young, Davis-led Magic team, 116-110, in a game that may have pushed a little too close to the edge.

Rajon Rondo, with a 15-point, 16-assist, nine-rebound near-triple double, tied John Stockton at 37 games for the second longest double digit assist streak in NBA history. He can pass Stockton on Wednesday against the Nets in the Garden.

Overtime opened with Josh McRoberts and Kevin Garnett matching baskets, and after two subsequent ties on baskets by Davis and Rondo, Pierce buried the first big dagger with an up-top trey for a 111-108 Celtics lead.

Davis missed from 15, and this time the Celtics break kicked out, with Rondo finishing for a 113-108 lead with 1:37 left in overtime.