May 19, 2008 Celtics move on in quest for 17th championship title Play video

(NECN: Josh McElveen, Boston, Mass.) - The Boston Celtics are one step closer to their 17th NBA championship. They'll host the Pistons Tuesday night at the Garden in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Green Team earned a trip to the finals with a hard-fought 97-92 win over Cleveland in Game 7 of that series Sunday.

Paul Pierce was the leading man with 41 points, offsetting a 45-point performance from Cavaliers star LeBron James.

Detroit started a workout Sunday night just as the Celtics were finishing off the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Pistons took two days off, including Saturday, after advancing Tuesday to their sixth straight conference final.

Boston won an NBA-high 66 games during the regular season and Detroit had 59 wins, giving the Celtics home-court advantage starting with Game 1 on Tuesday night.

Boston and Detroit have met seven times in the playoffs, with the Celtics winning four times, most memorably in 1987 when they made their last NBA finals appearance.

*Material from the Associated Press used in this report*