WALTHAM, Mass. — Kevin Garnett won’t be posting any comments from the Philadelphia 76ers owners on his mental bulletin board. The Philadelphia fans won’t be getting all riled up over comments deriding their loyalty.
“It’s Game 7. There’s no tomorrow,” Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce said before practice Friday. “If this is not the most important thing to you right now, there is no way to motivate you as a basketball player.”
The Celtics and 76ers will play tonight for a spot in the NBA Eastern Conference final, where one of them will face the Miami Heat for the chance to play for the NBA title. The 76ers forced the series to a decisive game by beating Boston 82-75 on when they knocked out top seeded Chicago in the first round.
“I think they’re excited about the chance to go in there and have this Game 7 and see what we can do,” Philadelphia Coach Doug Collins said. “I don’t think we have any fear. I haven’t felt that in our guys at all. When we have played poorly, it’s not out of being fearful. I think sometimes we don’t execute well. That to me has nothing to do with whether or not the guys believe they can do it.”
Collins said he was relying on the energy of a young team that has just one 30-year-old, Elton Brand, getting significant playing time.
Brand said his younger teammates are ready.
“They’re not scared of the moment at all, which is really good for our team,” Brand said. “Some of the older guys are saying, ‘Hey, we don’t get this opportunity too many times. So let’s try to win this game.’ ”
That’s also the mood in Boston, where they are gearing up for the last run of the new Big Three. Pierce is under contract, but Garnett and Ray Allen are free agents at the end of the season.
Still, Garnett wasn’t manufacturing anything to motivate himself for the game, like he did for the finale against Atlanta when he fixated on comments by a Hawks owner calling him a dirty player. He then fed the 76ers bulletin board material this week when he said they had fair weather fans.
Allen said he wasn’t thinking - yet - about the possibility it could be his last game in a Boston uniform.
“We’ve been so fortunate to do what we’ve done here,” he said. “It seems like we’ve been ruled out so many times before, so many years before. It’s just another opportunity to go out and be who we are, so we’re not worried about what’s beyond tomorrow. We’re worried more about what we have in the present day.”
The Celtics will be without guard Avery Bradley, who also missed Games 5 and 6. Rivers said Friday that Bradley will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on a left shoulder that frequently popped out of its socket during the regular season and playoffs.
Bradley has been a key part of the Celtics’ defense. Without him, Allen moves back into the starting lineup and Rajon Rondo will be expected to cover the best 76ers’ back court player in the game.
“It’s disappointing when a player goes down. Especially what Avery has given us this year,” Rivers said. “He’s a very valuable part of our team. Not having him makes Rondo have to go back to that role - and run the team. Rondo doesn’t have a lot of breaks.”
Rondo, who had 9 points, 6 assists and 9 rebounds in Game 6 - the first time in these playoffs he has failed to reach 10 in any of those categories - laughed at the suggestion that the added responsibility will be too much for him.
“Oh man, it’s a lot of pressure,” he said with a chuckle. “We’re a team. We’re one of the few teams in the NBA where all five guys contribute. We’re not a one- or a two man show. We play great as a team.”
It’s not the first injury for the Celtics, who lost Jeff Green to an aortic aneurysm before the season began and got just 25 games out of starting center Jermaine O’Neal. During the playoffs, Allen has struggled with bone spurs in his ankle and Paul Pierce has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
At a glance All times Central
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
(x-if necessary) TUESDAY’S GAME Miami 115, Indiana 83 WEDNESDAY’S GAME Philadelphia 82, Boston 75
Series tied 3-3 THURSDAY’S GAME Miami 105, Indiana 93
Miami wins series 4-2 TODAY’S GAME Philadelphia at Boston, 4 p.m. or 7 p.m.
CONFERENCE FINALS
SUNDAY’S GAME Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.
NBA playoffs
All times Central CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS TODAY’S GAME
Philadelphia at Boston, 7 p.m.
Series tied 3-3 CONFERENCE FINALS SUNDAY’S GAME Okla. City at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.
First game of series
Sports, Pages 21 on 05/26/2012