(Sports Network) - The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers battle for the right to play in the Eastern Conference finals, as the teams square off this afternoon at TD Banknorth Garden in the decisive Game 7 of their semifinal series.

The home team has won all six games in this series. The winner of this series will face the second-seeded Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals, which will begin on Tuesday.

On Friday, LeBron James' game-highs of 32 points, 12 rebounds and six assists overcame Cleveland's poor shooting performance, as the fourth-seeded Cavaliers held off the top-seeded Celtics, 74-69, at Quicken Loans Arena in Game 6 of the best-of-seven series.

Delonte West chipped in 10 points for Cleveland, which halted a three-game losing streak when facing playoff elimination even though the club shot just 32.9 percent from the floor.

The Cavaliers played without backup point guard Daniel Gibson, who missed Friday's contest with a left shoulder injury sustained in Game 5. He will also miss Game 7, as the Cavaliers hope to get a better performance from their only other legitimate three-point threat, Wally Szczerbiak, who shot 2-for-11 from the field and made just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc in Game 6.

Kevin Garnett finished with team-highs of 25 points and eight rebounds in the loss for the Celtics. Paul Pierce was held to 5-of-15 from the field for 16 points, while Ray Allen was once again silenced with a nine-point effort for Boston, which has dropped all six of its away games in the postseason.

The Celtics, who defeated the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in seven games in the opening round, are 18-5 all-time and 15-3 at home in Game 7s. Boston is 7-0 as the host in this year's playoffs.

Cleveland is 2-1 all-time in Game 7s in the playoffs. The Cavaliers are 2-4 on the road in this year's postseason, and are 0-1 as the visitor in Game 7s.

This is the fourth time these teams have met in the postseason. Boston defeated the Cavaliers in six games, 4-2, in the 1976 East finals, and in four contests, 3-1, in the first round of the 1985 playoffs. Cleveland knocked out the Celtics in seven games in the 1992 East semis.

Boston has made it to the East semis for the first time since 2003. That year, the Celtics were swept by the New Jersey Nets, 4-0. The last time the Celtics won in this round was in 2002 when they knocked out Detroit in five, 4-1, before losing to the Nets in the East finals, 4-2.

The Cavaliers, who are the defending Eastern Conference champions and knocked out the Wizards in round one, are 3-2 all-time in the semifinals. They defeated the Washington Bullets in 1976, Boston in 1992 and New Jersey in 2007. Cleveland lost in the semis to Chicago in 1993 and Detroit in 2006.