BOSTON - Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu helped dethrone the defending champion Celtics on Sunday night and gave Orlando a chance to bring a crown to the Magic Kingdom.

Howard had 12 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Turkoglu had 25 points with 12 assists in a 101-82 victory in Game 7, propelling Orlando into the Eastern Conference final.

Orlando trailed for just 36 seconds and built a lead it couldn't squander to earn the right to play LeBron James and the Cavaliers for a spot in the NBA Finals. Game 1 is Wednesday in Cleveland.

"We believe. We believe we can go all the way," Howard said. "It's going to get harder."

Ray Allen scored 23 for Boston and Paul Pierce had 16 before they were taken out of the game for a courtesy cheer with 2:30 left and Orlando up 99-78.

Kevin Garnett's absence derailed the Celtics' title defense before it got started, forcing them to fight through a seven-overtime, seven-game series against Chicago in the first round and leaving them perpetually playing from behind in the second.

The Magic nearly blew a 28-point lead in Game 1 then did waste a 14-point lead in Game 5 to give the Celtics a 3-2 advantage in the best-of-seven series. Boston, which won the last of its unprecedented 17 titles last year, had never lost a series (32-0) after being ahead 3-2.

But Orlando came back from a 10-point deficit Thursday to force Game 7.

And there was no panic this time. Just a lot of Magic .

Orlando led by 14 in the second quarter before Boston cut it to 45-42 in the third. Rajon Rondo's long 2-pointer at the buzzer to end the quarter made it 66-61, but Orlando scored the first eight of the fourth to open a double-digit lead.

Orlando led 81-64 with 8:04 left when Howard picked up his fifth foul and went to the bench. Boston cut the deficit to 90-78 on Allen's 3-pointer with 4:12 to play.

But Turkoglu sank a 3-pointer then Kendrick Perkins was called for a charge and Turkoglu made a fadeaway jumper to extend the lead to 17 points.

ORLANDO (101): Turkoglu 9-12 3-3 25, Lewis 5-14 7-10 19, Howard 5-9 2-2 12, Alston 6-16 0-1 15, Redick 2-3 0-0 5, Lee 1-5 1-1 3, Pietrus 6-7 2-2 17, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Battie 0-1 0-0 0, Gortat 2-2 1-1 5. Totals 36-70 16-20 101.

BOSTON (82): Pierce 4-13 7-10 16, Davis 4-7 5-7 13, Perkins 3-11 2-2 8, Rondo 4-10 2-2 10, R.Allen 9-18 2-2 23, House 1-3 0-0 2, Scalabrine 1-5 0-0 2, Marbury 1-4 2-2 4, T.Allen 1-1 0-0 2, Pruitt 0-1 0-0 0, Moore 1-1 0-0 2, Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-74 20-25 82.

Orlando 27 18 21 35 - 101

Boston 17 21 23 21 - 82

3-Point Goals-Orlando 13-21 (Turkoglu 4-5, Pietrus 3-3, Alston 3-7, Lewis 2-4, Redick 1-2), Boston 4-16 (R.Allen 3-6, Pierce 1-5, Scalabrine 0-1, Rondo 0-1, Pruitt 0-1, Marbury 0-1, House 0-1). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Orlando 44 (Howard 16), Boston 44 (Perkins 15). Assists-Orlando 26 (Turkoglu 12), Boston 21 (Rondo 10). Total Fouls-Orlando 20, Boston 22. A-18,624 (18,624).

Gasol, Lakers finally dispatch Rockets

LOS ANGELES - All is well again in La-La Land. The real Lakers showed up Sunday, and in a Game 7, no less.

With Pau Gasol dominating on both ends of the court, the Lakers beat the Rockets 89-70 in the decisive game of the Western Conference semifinals.

Playing with emotion, Gasol scored 21 and grabbed 18 rebounds. The Lakers looked like the conference's top-seeded team, not the maddeningly inconsistent one that was pushed to the limit by the undermanned Rockets.

Trying to reach the NBA Finals for the second straight year, the Lakers host the opener of the conference final against the Nuggets on Tuesday.

It turns out that homecourt advantage and a smothering defense were all it took to jump-start the Lakers. They forced the Rockets into turnovers and bad shots. The owned the backboards, taking a 55-33 advantage, and blocked 10 shots.

They had an 8-0 lead a few minutes in and widened it to 25 points on Gasol's jump hook shortly before halftime.

HOUSTON (70): Battier 1-6 1-1 3, Scola 4-12 3-6 11, Hayes 4-8 0-0 8, Brooks 4-13 3-3 13, Artest 3-10 0-1 7, Landry 2-10 0-0 4, Wafer 5-11 0-1 10, Lowry 2-2 2-2 8, Barry 0-1 0-0 0, Cook 1-1 0-0 2, White 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 28-76 9-14 70.

L.A. Lakers (89): Ariza 5-9 3-4 15, Gasol 10-19 1-1 21, Bynum 6-7 2-2 14, Fisher 2-5 2-2 6, Bryant 4-12 5-6 14, Odom 2-5 1-2 6, Farmar 1-5 0-1 2, Vujacic 4-7 0-0 9, Walton 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Powell 0-1 0-0 0,

Mbenga 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-75 14-18 89.

Houston 12 19 19 20 - 70

L.A. Lakers 22 29 18 20 - 89

3-Point Goals-Houston 5-20 (Lowry 2-2, Brooks 2-3, Artest 1-6, Barry 0-1, Hayes 0-1, Wafer 0-1, Landry 0-2, Battier 0-4), L.A. Lakers 5-15 (Ariza 2-3, Odom 1-3, Vujacic 1-3, Bryant 1-4, Farmar 0-1, Fisher 0-1). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Houston 40 (Artest 8), L.A. Lakers 57 (Gasol 18). Assists-Houston 17 (Artest 5), L.A. Lakers 16 (Bryant 5). Total Fouls-Houston 20, L.A. Lakers 17. Technicals-Bynum, L.A. Lakers defensive three second. A-18,997 (18,997).