The Celtics 14-game winning streak came to an end in the final three minutes and 20 seconds against the Orlando Magic, but it had been brewing ever since Rajon Rondo injured his ankle against the Knicks a week and a half ago.

It’s to their credit that it took this long to finally lose a game, but the Celtics have been feeling Rondo’s absence. It finally came to a head in crunch time when the Celtics couldn’t run anything that resembled a structured offense in an 86-78 loss to the Magic as Orlando outscored them 15-1 over the final 3:20. (Click here for a full recap).

Nate Robinson shot 2-for-15 and Ray Allen had another tough day against J.J. Redick, making just three of 13 shots. Forced to run the offense, Paul Pierce scored two points in the second half after going off for 16 in the first. The encouraging part for the Celtics is they almost got away with it again. After giving up the first 13 points of the game, the Celtics dominated Orlando, outscoring the Magic 46-23 the rest of the first half.

Still, it was a disappointing end to what had been an impressive run of not only winning games, but also finding ways to win without key players. A year ago the Celtics went into Orlando with a banged-up roster and managed to come away with a victory. That turned out to be the highlight of their regular season as they essentially played .500 ball over the next three and a half months.

The good news for the Celtics this seasons is that even with all the injuries, Pierce and Kevin Garnett are as healthy as they’ve been in years and Garnett had another monster game. We’ll soon find out just how healthy the veterans are because beginning Tuesday, the Celtics will play 11 games over the next two and a half weeks.

Even with the loss, there were still some encouraging signs, particularly with the way they played Dwight Howard, which is where we’ll start.

HAVE THE CELTICS FIGURED OUT DWIGHT HOWARD?

For years the Celtics gameplan against Howard has been simple: Stick Kendrick Perkins on him and take their chances. Perkins hasn’t always got the better of Howard, but his ability to play him without help in the post negated Orlando’s preference for bombing 3-pointers off Howard double-teams.

Without Perkins, the Celtics didn’t deviate at all. Shaquille O’Neal may not be able to keep pace with Howard in a footrace, but he frustrated and annoyed Howard into a foul-plagued 1-for-4 shooting performance.

Howard was in foul trouble right from the start as the Celtics made a concerted effort to get O’Neal involved in the post. Then in the third quarter, Howard was called for a 10-second violation on a free-throw attempt, which led to a technical foul and soon thereafter, his fourth personal.

Howard was his usual dominant self on defense, but the Celtics once again worked their way into his head and took him out of his game. If they take nothing else from this game, it’s that they can continue to have his number, even without Perkins.

JERMAINE O’NEAL WILL NEED SOME TIME

There’s no way to sugarcoat this: Jermaine O’Neal has been a massive disappointment 28 games into his Celtics tenure. Actually, O’Neal has played just eight games, which is the source of the problem.

The reality is that players get hurt and the Celtics expected that the O’Neal’s would miss time this season. But while Shaq has quickly ingratiated himself to the city, the locker room and the lineup, Jermaine O’Neal has been a non-factor.

His return was a welcome one because Semih Erden missed the game with the flu. But on a day when Shaq played only 13 minutes before fouling out, the Celtics needed more from the other O’Neal – the one they signed to the full mid-level exception. The one who was supposed to be the starting center.

Jermaine O’Neal gave them only 10 minutes and missed a couple of easy layups. Still, he was active on defense around the rim and offered a glimpse of what could be a very effective center tandem once he gets up to speed.

It wasn’t an auspicious return, but after all the time he’s missed he had to start somewhere. If he can avoid the nagging injuries that have plagued him since the start of training camp, the Celtics will be well-stocked at the center position.

THE CELTICS MAY HAVE GIVEN THE MAGIC LIFE

Teams that expect to contend for a championships, simply don’t blow up the roster 25 games into the season, but that’s exactly what the Magic did when they dumped Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and Marcin Gortat for Jason Richardson, Gilbert Arenas and Hedo Turkoglu.

The moves not only left Orlando without a serviceable backup big man behind Howard, they also signaled a new style of play for Stan Van Gundy’s crew. It remains to be seen how Van Gundy will incorporate all of his new toys, but it seems clear that he wants to run more and become more perimeter-oriented.

Things to off to a rocky start, which was to be expected, but the Magic have now rallied to beat the teams with the two best records in the league: San Antonio and Boston. The win over the Spurs was a classic pre-holidays beatdown, but Saturday’s win over the Celtics was far more important.

Up until the final few possessions, the Celtics dominated Orlando’s offense and Garnett exposed their lack of a height by owning the post against Brandon Bass. It’s possible, even likely, that if Rondo was healthy he would have continued to feed Garnett on the block and the Magic would have had no answers for it. (In yet another sign of Garnett’s return to form, he also took it to Howard.)

That, ultimately, is what was so disappointing for the Celtics this Christmas. They had a chance to further shake the confidence of one of their biggest rivals, and couldn’t find a way to close the game.