Celtics and Rockets Force Game 7

INDIANAPOLIS – After three blowout games, one overtime, 14 technical fouls, two ejections and one suspension, it all comes down to a deciding Game 7 in Boston on Saturday night.

In a first-round Eastern Conference series neither team seems able to control at home, the Celtics and the Indiana Pacers are knotted at three games apiece. The winner will face what could be an even tougher prospect in the next round against the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons.

“I think at times, it was some kind of divine intervention that we won,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after a wild 92-89 overtime victory Thursday night, the fourth win of the series by the visiting team.

“That is the craziest … game I’ve ever seen in my life,” Rivers said. “This series has just been unreal.”

Thursday night’s other matchup also wound up with a Game 7, with Houston getting 37 points from Tracy McGrady and using a late 19-0 run to defeat Dallas 101-83.

Antoine Walker, who was suspended for Game 4 after grabbing a referee, scored 24 points for Boston, hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer early in overtime and a clinching basket with a minute to go. Ricky Davis had 22 points and Paul Pierce, who was ejected after getting a second technical foul late in regulation, had 20 points.

It was the first time in the series Boston had three players with at least 20 points.

“When the incident happened with Paul, all I told the team … was that we cannot lose this game. We cannot,” Rivers said. “We’ve played all year to have a Game 7 in our place.”

But that’s been almost no advantage at all.

Three of the six games so far were blowouts, and each time, the losing team came back to win the next one on the road.

Indiana appeared on its way to an easy end to the series, scoring the first 10 points of the game and leading 19-8 before the Celtics made their comeback. Walker had eight turnovers, but he scored 13 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“I was just trying to rally the troops together,” Walker said. “We were in a hostile environment and I tried to rally the troops to keep going on and play.”

Boston was ahead 84-83 with 12.9 seconds left in regulation when Jamaal Tinsley fouled Pierce. Tinsley hit Pierce in the neck while fouling him, and Pierce appeared to swing his elbow in anger.

“It was an overreaction to a hard foul and I lost my cool out there. It almost cost us,” Pierce said. “I’m just happy we got the win. I don’t know how I’d feel if we lost this game.”

Referee Steve Javie did not immediately make a call. But after huddling with the other two officials, Pierce was assessed his second technical foul of the game – an automatic ejection.

“I thought Tinsley should have been kicked out of the game for some of the dirty things he did to us. He had his hands in my face on the last play, and that’s why I overreacted,” Pierce said. “It won’t happen again.”

Reggie Miller hit the technical foul shot to tie the game, and the Pacers got to choose which Celtics player would replace Pierce at the foul line. They selected Kendrick Perkins, a 64 percent foul shooter, and he missed both attempts.

The Pacers then had a chance to win, but Miller shot an airball from well behind the 3-point line, sending the game to overtime.

Boston’s Al Jefferson scored the first basket of the extra period, and there was one more tie before Walker’s 3-pointer put the Celtics ahead to stay. His next basket made it 91-87 before Tinsley scored, and Indiana got the ball back with 15 seconds left.

Jermaine O’Neal, who led Indiana with 26 points, then missed a 16-foot turnaround and the ball went out of bounds over the backboard. Delonte West hit one of two free throws to finish the scoring.

“We’re now in a situation where we have an opportunity to play what I call the ultimate game and it’s never easy to close out a series, no matter what happens,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s tough. We’ve got to go up there and get a win.”

O’Neal said the Pacers didn’t expect to lose this one.

“It’s another tough obstacle for us,” he said. “But nobody’s in a panic mode. We’ve got one more chance to move on. Nobody said it would be easy.”

That’s been an understatement.

“This has probably been the one series that’s been crazy both ways,” Miller said. “Just two days ago, everyone was patting each other on the back. Now we have to go back to Boston. Especially playing on the road, you almost have to play a perfect game.”

Rockets 101, Mavericks 83

At Houston, McGrady also had eight rebounds and seven assists to help the Rockets avoid a first-round exit.

Mike James came off the bench for 22 points and Jon Barry scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Jerry Stackhouse led Dallas with 21 points, and Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 on only 5-of-22 shooting as he continued his series-long struggles against McGrady’s defense.

McGrady scored eight straight points, including two 3s, during a 19-0 spurt that turned a close game into a rout and gave Houston a 101-80 lead. Dallas shot 4-for-27 in the final period.