On Sunday the Boston Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers to advance to the Conference Finals round of the playoffs. Paul Pierce was the star in this one; he scored 41 points, with four rebounds and five assists.

“It is a great feeling,” Pierce said after the game. “We knew this was going to be a tough, tough series.”

Much of this game was a duel between Pierce and the cornerstone of the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise, Lebron James. James put in a great performance, scoring 45 points to go alongside six assists. However, James received little support from his teammates (starting shoot-guard Wally Szczerbiak didn’t score in the game.)

After the game, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers talked about how happy he was with his team.

“Before the year our goal was to be there in Game 1 at home (in the conference finals) and that’s where we are,” Rivers said. “So we’re exactly where we should be.”

Delonte West of the Cavs was upset that his team’s season had to end this way.

“We fight hard in every game, come out and leave it out on the floor,” West said. “We expected this type of effort out of ourselves, competing until there’s no zeros on the clock. It just hurts that we just go home now. That’s all.”

Though a great victory for the Celtics, their journey is anything but completed. In the next round of the playoffs, they’ll take on the Detroit Pistons, who made quick work of the Orlando Magic in the Conference semi-finals (they won the series four games to five).

“It’s emotional,” Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics said. “We will enjoy this, but as we advance it does get a little more difficult.”