NBA: Boston 109, Chicago 99

BOSTON, May 3 (UPI) -- Ray Allen scored 23 points Saturday to lead the Boston Celtics into the second round of the playoffs with a 109-99 Game 7 win over Chicago.

The Celtics won the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series 4-3 and advanced to the semifinals -- starting Monday in Boston -- against Orlando, which eliminated Philadelphia in six games in their quarterfinal series.

With the exception of Boston's 21-point victory in Game 3, every previous Celtics-Bulls contest in the series had been decided by three points or fewer -- with four of them going to overtime. The Celtics ended the series in regulation Saturday with the aid of a 22-2 second quarter run.

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

Paul Pierce added 20 points and nine rebounds and Eddie House had 16 points for the Celtics.

Ben Gordon had 33 points and Derrick Rose 18 points for the Bulls, who are 0-6 all-time on the road in Game 7 of a playoff series.