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Sixers win in Boston, even series

May 15, 2012 - 3:43 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Evan Turner scored the go-ahead layup with his back to the basket Monday night and the 76ers survived a frantic finish to beat the Celtics, 82-81, and even their semifinal series at a game apiece.

Jrue Holiday scored 18 points, Andre Iguodala had 13 and the Sixers nearly let another double-digit lead go to waste before pulling away in the final minute.

Kevin Garnett, who had 29 points in Boston's Game 1 win Saturday, was called for a moving screen with 10 seconds left and the Celtics trailing by three.

The offensive foul, which cleared Paul Pierce for a pass up top, allowed the Sixers to take a five-point lead on free throws with just 8.5 seconds left.

"That's the name of the game sometimes," said Pierce. "They make a call, you got to live with it."

Garnett hit a meaningless 3 at the buzzer for the one-point final margin as the Sixers won a playoff game in Boston for the first time since Game 7 of Eastern Conference Finals in 1982.

"You play a game like this," said Sixers coach Doug Collins, "and it's worth like 10 regular season games in terms of experience."

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference series is Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

Turner, one of Collins' core of young players, slipped past two defenders and spun his back to the rim on the left side, throwing the ball up for a bucket that made it 76-75 with 40.4 seconds remaining.

"I saw the isolation. I just knew I had to make a play for the team," said Turner.

It put the eighth-seeded Sixers up for good and came after a flurry of 3s by both teams that had the score seesawing back and forth.

Holiday had one for Philadelphia, but it was sandwiched by a corner 3 by Avery Bradley and a 3 at the top by Ray Allen that gave Boston a one-point lead.

Allen later hit a leaning 3 with 3.5 ticks left to get the Celtics within two, but Jodie Meeks' free throws at the other end pushed it to four. The Sixers went 6-for-6 at the line in the last 12 seconds.

Rajon Rondo, whose eighth career playoff triple-double led fourth-seeded Boston back from a 10-point deficit in Saturday's 92-91 win, had 13 assists, eight points and seven rebounds in this one.

Allen had 17 points off the bench and Garnett scored 15 with 12 rebounds. His offensive foul late in the fourth left a bad taste in head coach Doc Rivers' mouth.

"I wasn't fond of it," said Rivers, who said it looked like refs were letting the same thing go all night.

"Listen, we put ourself in that position," he said. "At the end of the day, I say it all the time, if you put yourself in a position to let someone else do something, then you can lose games. And that's what happened."

The Sixers carried an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter after holding Boston to 4-of-17 shooting and 11 points in the third. The Celtics also had seven turnovers in the third and were outscored, 21-11.

Philly scored just two points in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the third, but Elton Brand's jumper kicked off a 14-0 run soon after that as they built a 57-47 lead. It was 57-49 going into the fourth.

"I think we play some of our best basketball on the road," said Collins. "We had to win on the road to get in the playoffs."

Earlier, Bradley hit a 3 and Brandon Bass made back-to-back jumpers as the Celtics opened the game on a 9-0 run. After an early timeout, the Sixers responded with a 13-6 burst led by Holiday and Boston's lead was just 25-21 going into the second quarter.

The Sixers took their first lead on a Spencer Hawes jumper four minutes into the second but never led by more than two before halftime despite 13 points from Holiday. The Celtics carried a 38-36 edge into the break.

Bradley missed the third quarter with a sore left shoulder but came back for the fourth. He had eight points and Bass scored 12 for Boston.

Turner and Lavoy Allen ended with 10 points apiece for the Sixers while Hawes scored eight with 10 rebounds.

Game Notes

The Atlantic Division rivals both shot under 42 percent. Boston shot 41.8 percent and Philly 40.8...There were nine lead changes in the game and seven ties.