BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Paul Pierce scored 22 points, Kevin Garnett had 18 points and the Boston Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks 99-65 victory Sunday in Game 7 of their playoff series to advance to the second round and a matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Game 1 is Tuesday night.

    "They're a group that's defending Eastern Conference champs," Garnett said. "To do anything, you've got to go through them. "It's good that we have home-court advantage. I think it should be a good series."

    "I wish we could have played all of our games in Atlanta," said coach Mike Woodson, whose team won all three home games but never came close in Boston. “Nobody thought we had an opportunity to even win a game in this series. We battled them right to the end. We just didn't have it today."

    Rajon Rondo, who missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the Game 6 loss that forced the series back to Boston, had 10 points and six assists and Kendrick Perkins had 10 points and 10 rebounds before joining the rest of the starters on the bench in the formality of a fourth quarter, just like the Celtics did for much of the regular season.

    (Agencies)