Boston beats Philadelphia in Game 7, will face Miami in East final series | NBA

BOSTON ? Guard Rajon Rondo contributed 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 85-75 in Game 7 Saturday night to advance to the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals.

The Celtics will open the third round of the playoffs in Miami against the Heat on Monday.

"I've already packed," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "We'll be ready. It's going to be a tough turnaround, but we're not an excuse team. We'll be ready on Monday."

Rondo scored nine straight Boston points, helping the Celtics turn a three-point edge into a double-digit lead after Paul Pierce fouled out with 4:16 left in the game.

Kevin Garnett added 18 points and 13 rebounds for Boston.

Andre Iguodala scored 18 points, and Elton Brand and Jrue Holiday had 15 apiece for the 76ers, who eliminated the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round.

Philadelphia center Spencer Hawes, a former Washington Huskies and Seattle Prep player, had four points on 2-for-8 shooting and five rebounds in 17:34.

Ex-Sonic Ray Allen made two fourth-quarter three-pointers for Boston after missing his first five tries from long range. Pierce had 15 points and nine rebounds before fouling out.

Then Rondo took over.

Garnett, Pierce and Allen are known as the Big Three but Sixers coach Doug Collins noted that label seems incomplete for the Celtics these days.

"I don't look at them as the Big Three. I look at them as the Championship Four," Collins said. "Because if you're going to leave Rondo out, you're making a huge mistake."

Rondo, bouncing back from his worst performance of the playoffs in Game 6, scored on a baseline drive and made a long two-point shot (originally scored a three) with 2:47 left. He added a three-pointer with a little more than two minutes left to give Boston a 10-point lead.

Rondo scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.

"He really came through," Holiday said. "He put the team on his back."

Collins said, "I thought if we could score 85, we could win. But our inability to score plagued us throughout the season. It looked like the game was getting away from us, but we were right there. I thought turnovers hurt us early in the game."

Miami beat Boston in five games in the conference semifinals last year.

"Last year is in the past," Rondo said. "This year, we're a totally different team. We feel we can beat Miami. We got to this point; there's no doubt in my mind we can. We've got to go down there and take care of business."

In 2010, the Celtics eliminated the Heat in the first round.

Boston took the regular-season series from Miami 3-1, though the last of those meetings was in the final week of the season and came on a night where LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sat out for Miami, while Rondo, Garnett and Allen also were idle.

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