Boston Celtics, Nba Playoffs | featured news

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday he was considering sitting ailing shooting guard Ray Allen for a game during the Eastern Conference finals.

LeBron James scored 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Heat beat the Celtics 93-79 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Jrue Holiday scored 20 points, and Elton Brand had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the tough-and-determined Philadelphia 76ers past the Celtics, 82-75 on Wednesday night to send the Eastern Conference semifinals back to Boston for Game 7. No team has won consecutive games in a series where neither team has played well enough to seize control.

Brandon Bass scored 18 of his 27 points in the third quarter and the Celtics pulled away from the Sixers 101-85 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 is Wednesday in Philly.

Kevin Garnett had 28 points and 14 rebounds, hitting a jumper to give Boston the lead with 31 seconds left, and the Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks 83-80 in Game 6 on Thursday night to win their first-round playoff series and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the fifth straight year.

Al Horford missed most of the season. Now that he's back, the Atlanta Hawks center wants to keep it going as long as he can.

Paul Pierce scored 24 points in 18 minutes and the Boston Celtics opened a 37-point third-quarter lead before coasting to a 101-79 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers looked at his aging team at the end of regulation, and he wasn't encouraged by what he saw. "They didn't look fresh," he said Friday night after Boston beat Atlanta 90-84 in overtime to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series. "And, honestly, I looked at the other team – they looked pretty bad, too. So that made me feel a little bit better."

Josh Smith scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, leading the Atlanta Hawks to an 83-74 victory over Boston in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs Sunday night, the final minute turning ugly when Celtics star Rajon Rondo was ejected for bumping an official.

Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade scored a combined 83 points to give the Heat a 3-1 lead over the Celtics in the East Conference semifinals.