BOSTON -- On an afternoon of breathtaking basketball, Larry Bird was at his magnificent best.
He scored 20 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter Sunday to lift the Boston Celtics to a 118-116 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 7 and into another Eastern Conference final. He hit 9 of 11 shots in the last period.
'It's the greatest NBA game I've ever seen,' Atlanta Coach Mike Fratello said.
The Celtics, who avoided elimination by winning the series' last two games, play the Detroit Pistons at Boston Garden Wednesday night in Game 1 of the conference finals.
Boston has won the seventh game of a playoff series 14 of 16 times and six of seven times since Bird joined the team in 1979.
The 6-foot-9 forward, who claimed the Hawks had blown their best chance when they lost Game 6 in Atlanta, proved true to his word in fourth quarter, hitting long jumpers, driving scoops and delivering pin-point passes.
'Every shot I took, I tried to concentrate on it,' Bird said. 'The team wanted to see the ball in my hands and I definitely wanted the ball.'
Bird's 3-pointer with 1:43 left put Boston ahead 112-105 and the sellout crowd of 14,890 did not sit down after that shot.
'I could see it in Larry's eyes,' teammate Kevin McHale said. 'When he gets a look like that, it's 'Katy bar the door.''
The score was tied nine times in the fourth quarter before Bird put Boston ahead for good with a foul-line jumper at 3:30 for a 107-105 lead. McHale added a pair of free throws and Bird's 3-pointer capped the 7-0 spurt.
'Larry took the game over,' Boston guard Danny Ainge said. 'They quit double-teaming him (in the fourth quarter). Their plan was to play him head-up, and it's a mistake.'
Dominique Wilkins, who scored 47 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, laid in his own rebound with 21 seconds left to make it 114-111. But Ainge, off a long left-handed pass from Bird, scored with 17 seconds left when Glenn Rivers was called for goaltending on the breakaway layup.
Rivers, who finished with 18 assists, admitted he hit the rim.
'I have a lot more respect now for the Celtics than I ever did - and I always respected them,' he said.
Dennis Johnson hit two of four foul shots in the final 10 seconds. With one second left, Wilkins had two free throws. He hit the first and intentionally missed the second, but Johnson rebounded.
McHale finished with 33 points and 13 rebounds, with 21 points coming in the first half. Johnson, bleeding around his right eye, scored all 16 of his points in the second half. The Celtics shot 61 percent for the game.
The Hawks, who have not advanced past the second round since 1970, were seeking to become the seventh team in NBA history to win a playoff series after trailing 2-0.
'We matured as a team,' Fratello said. 'We showed tremendous character.'
'That was some of the best basketball I have ever seen,' Boston Coach K.C. Jones said. 'That second half was awesome basketball. It was a game neither team should have lost.'
Randy Wittman added 22 points for the Hawks.
Atlanta failed to score on its first six possessions of the third quarter, allowing Boston to score the first 6 points and take a 65-58 lead. The Hawks gradually cut the deficit, led briefly at 77-76 but trailed 84-82 entering the final quarter.
The game began at a furious pace, and the lead changed hands 20 times in the first 24 minutes. Neither team led by more than 2 points through the first 10:29.
The Hawks held the biggest advantage of the half, managing a 6-point edge three times, the last at 40-34 with 7:36 remaining. Boston, which shot 62 percent in the half, responded with a 15-6 run and was up 59-58 at halftime. Atlanta, which shot 54 percent, was led by Wilkins with 20 points.
Said Ainge: 'It will be a game to pull out the tapes in the future, watch them and say, 'That was quite a game.''
