NBA

• Celtics, Magic kick off East semis in Beantown

  
  

  (Sports Network) - The reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics certainly don't mind walking the tightrope.

  The Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday by dispatching of the upstart Chicago Bulls in Game 7 of the most thrilling playoff series in years.

  Waiting in the wings now is Dwight Howard and a talented Orlando Magic team that dismissed the Celtics' Atlantic Division rival, the Philadelphia 76ers, in six games during the first round.

  Sharp-shooter Ray Allen poured in 23 points in the C's 109-99 Game 7 win over the Bulls, ending their grueling seven-game quarterfinals series.

  With the exception of Boston's 21-point victory in Game 3, every other contest until Saturday had been decided by three points or less with four of them going to overtime. The teams had played a total of seven extra sessions, including the incredible 128-127 Chicago win in triple-OT on Thursday.

  The defending champs also were pushed to seven games twice in the playoffs last year, including in the first-round against Atlanta.

  Allen, coming off a career playoff-high 51-point performance, made 6-of-14 shots from the field and nailed all nine of his free throws.

  "Tough, definitely the toughest one that I've been a part of," Allen said of the series. "They gave us everything that we could handle. I told (Rajon) Rondo after the game, I said that 'They were probably the toughest match up that we've had you know, if I go back to even last year, because they have guys that, one, two, three, are capable of scoring 40 a night and it definitely put a crunch on our defense.'" The Celtics played the entire series without All-Star power forward Kevin Garnett, who is expected to be out for the remainder of the playoffs with a knee injury. The team also lost key reserve Leon Powe from the frontcourt during the series with a torn left ACL.

  The Magic, meanwhile, advanced but weren't all that impressive against a limited Sixers team until a great performance in the Game 6 clincher without Howard on Thursday.

  Rashard Lewis and Rafer Alston combined to score 50 points in that one with Howard serving a one-game suspension, as Orlando notched an impressive 114-89 series-clinching win.

  Lewis totaled 29 and Alston 21 for the Magic, who took their first lead in the series with a pivotal Game 5 triumph in Orlando on Tuesday when Howard scored 24 points and pulled down a playoff career-high 24 rebounds in what amounted to a controversial win.

  Howard was hit with a technical foul after throwing an elbow to the head of Philadelphia center Samuel Dalembert in the first quarter and the NBA handed down the suspension for the superstar.

  Howard's elbow caused more problems for the Magic in Game 5 as starting shooting guard Courtney Lee took an inadvertent elbow to the head from his teammate and suffered a fractured sinus.

  "One of the best wins I've ever been a part of," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Amazing that this series -- that had three games go to the last shot -- would end with us having two starters out and winning on the road by 25." Lee had surgery earlier Thursday in Philadelphia and has been medically cleared to play but is not expected back anytime soon. Van Gundy said Saturday that if Lee plays at all in the second round, it will be a "bonus" and the rookie did not travel to Boston with the team.

  The Celtics and Magic split the four-game regular season series this year with each club winning once on the other team's home floor.

  The teams have met in the playoffs just once with Orlando earning a 3-1 win in the 1995 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

  05/04 10:42:10 ET