BOSTON — Paul Pierce hit a shot. Then LeBron James answered. Pierce hit another and so did James.

It was like that all game long, two of the NBA's best trying to carry their teams to the next round. Pierce and the Boston Celtics succeeded, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-92 yesterday.

Twenty years earlier there was another thrilling shootout in another seventh game of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Boston — Larry Bird vs. Dominique Wilkins.

And the result was the same: a narrow Celtics victory that sent them to the conference finals against Detroit.

Pierce scored 41 points, James had 45 and Boston remained unbeaten in the playoffs at home, where the first two games against the Pistons will be played tomorrow and Thursday.

"It is a great feeling," Pierce said. "We knew this was going to be a tough, tough series."

In a seven-game series in which the road team never won, the Celtics had many green-clad fans on their side. Lucky the Mascot held up a sign reading "ROCK THE GARDEN!" and the crowd roared. Pierce got the loudest ovation when he was introduced with his nickname, "The Truth."

And when the game started, one fan bellowed, "Not today, LeBron."

It wasn't Wilkins' day on May 22, 1988, even though he outscored Bird in Boston's 118-116 win over Atlanta at the old Boston Garden. Wilkins finished with 47 points, 16 in the fourth quarter, and Bird had 34, with 20 in the final period.

"I'm very aware of the game," Pierce said. "They don't ever let you forget it when you look up to the JumboTron."

James has seen plenty of highlights of that mano-a-mano tussle.

"We both tried to will our team to victory and, just like Dominique Wilkins, I ended up on the short end and the Celtics won again," he said. "I think the second round of the postseason, Game 7, these fans will finally have an opportunity to forget a little bit about what Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins did and remember what Paul and LeBron did.

"This will go down in history."

Pierce hit 13 of 23 shots and James went 14 for 29.

The Celtics have won 14 straight games at home and have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They are 0-6 in the postseason on the road.

"Before the year our goal was to be there in Game 1 at home (in the conference finals) and that's where we are," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "So we're exactly where we should be."

Home teams are 22-2 in the second round of this season's playoffs. The Celtics never trailed yesterday but they never were safe until the final seconds.

Pierce hit two free throws with 7.9 seconds left for the final points, then James missed a 3-pointer on the last shot of the game with 4.4 seconds to go.

"I had it going, LeBron had it going and we just didn't let up," Pierce said. "Neither one of us wanted our teams to lose."

Sasha Pavlovic's 3-pointer made it 95-92 with 8.6 seconds left and the Cavaliers immediately fouled Pierce. His first shot hit the rim, hung in the air, then fell through as the crowd roared. Pierce said team patriarch Red Auerbach, who died in October 2006 at age 89, had something to do with that.

"The ghost of Red just looking over us," Pierce said. "I think he kind of tapped it in the right direction. It sort of put a smile on my face."

Pierce's second free throw was much smoother, making it 97-92.

Cleveland raced downcourt and James hoisted a 3-pointer that missed with 4.4 seconds to go. The Cavaliers got the rebound and James waved for the ball from the same spot he had just missed from.

But Eddie House intercepted the pass and, as the final seconds ticked off, James turned and walked toward his bench, his chances of reaching the East finals dashed on the court where the Cavaliers were 0-6 this season.

"Boston did their work during the regular season to put themselves in this position to play Game 7 at home," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said.

The key yesterday, he said, was Boston's 10 offensive rebounds that turned into 18 points. Cleveland has just seven second-chance points.

"That was similar to what we had in the last game," Brown said. "You play on the road, if you turn the ball over, which we did a little tonight, and give up second chance points, it is going to be tough to win."

CLEVELAND 13 27 28 24—92

BOSTON 18 32 23 24—97

CLEVELAND-James 14-29 14-19 45, Wallace 1-1 1-2 3, Ilgauskas 2-8 4-4 8, West 4-8 5-6 15, Szczerbiak 0-3 0-0 0, Smith 3-5 0-1 6, Varejao 2-2 1-2 5, Pavlovic 3-8 0-1 7, Da.Jones 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 30-67 25-35 92.

BOSTON-Pierce 13-23 11-12 41, Garnett 5-13 3-4 13, Perkins 3-4 2-4 8, Rondo 4-11 0-0 8, R.Allen 1-6 2-2 4, Posey 1-1 2-2 5, Powe 0-0 4-6 4, House 1-5 2-2 4, P.Brown 4-4 2-2 10. Totals 32-67 28-34 97.

3-Point Goals—Cleveland 7-22 (James 3-11, West 2-4, Da.Jones 1-2, Pavlovic 1-2, Smith 0-1, Szczerbiak 0-2), Boston 5-12 (Pierce 4-6, Posey 1-1, Rondo 0-1, House 0-2, R.Allen 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Cleveland 40 (Smith 6), Boston 48 (Garnett 13). Assists—Cleveland 13 (James 6), Boston 20 (Rondo 8). Total Fouls—Cleveland 28, Boston 26. Technicals—West, House, Boston defensive three second 3. A—18,624 (18,624).

conference semifinals

Today, Hawai'i time

San Antonio at New Orleans, 2:30 p.m.

CONFERENCE FINALS

(Best-of-7)

Hawai'i times

Tomorrow

Detroit at Boston, 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday

New Orleans-San Antonio winner at L.A. Lakers, 3 p.m.