BOSTON (AP) – Boston Celtics interim coach John Carroll said Monday he will keep trying to win even though it might hurt the team’s draft position.

“It would be very difficult to walk out the door here and down that hallway and not try to win games,” he said outside the Celtics’ locker room before the game against the Orlando Magic. “I would be kind of a fraud.”

Despite a 25-36 record heading into the game, Boston was just one-half game behind eighth place Miami in the race for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Asked over the weekend whether the team would be better off with a high draft pick or an early exit from the playoffs, basketball boss Danny Ainge looked to the future.

“I think the playoffs are great for the players, coaches and fans, but I’m not going to lie about it. For the long-term part of this it’s obviously better for us to get a higher draft pick,” Ainge told the Boston Herald. “That’s just the truth.”

Ainge’s comments stopped far short of suggesting the team was not trying to win, a position that would likely get him in trouble with the NBA office. Many believe the Celtics tanked the 1996-97 season to improve their chances of landing Tim Duncan; the Celtics had the best chance heading into the draft lottery that year but drew the third pick instead and Duncan went to San Antonio.

Boston wound up with Chauncey Billups.

Carroll, who is 3-12 since taking over when Jim O’Brien resigned, agreed a high draft pick would be nice. But he said his job was to try to win.

“It would be great if you could finish first and have the No. 1 pick,” he said. “As crazy as it is, we’re still in contention.”