Paul Pierce was thrilled when the Boston Celtics picked up a couple of All-Stars so he wouldn’t have to carry the team anymore.

Turns out he did it anyway.

And Danny Ainge, the mastermind of offseason deals for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen that turned a terrible team into a title contender, gushed after Sunday’s 97-92 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers sent the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals.

“I was cheering,” Boston’s general manager said after watching Pierce score 41 points in Game 7 of the conference semifinals. “I wanted it so bad for the guys on the team. We were fighting hard. We didn’t play our best basketball, but we got the win.”

They got it despite LeBron James outscoring Pierce 45-41 in a shootout reminiscent of one 20 years earlier between Larry Bird and Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins in another seventh game of the conference semifinals. They combined for 81 points, 36 in the fourth quarter, of Boston’s 118-116 win.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers was the Hawks’ point guard in that game and had 18 assists.

“I was on the right team this time,” he said.

Now he must go against the Detroit Pistons, who are in the conference finals for the sixth straight season. The first two games are Tuesday and Thursday nights in Boston, where the Celtics are 8-0 in the playoffs. They’re 0-6 on the road after winning the first two series in the full seven games.

“Having gone through these two (series) has to have helped us a little bit,” Rivers said. “It will be a good series.”

Garnett had 13 points and 13 rebounds Sunday, but Allen’s shooting woes continued. He made just one of six shots, scored four points and ended the series with 9.3 points per game on 32.8 percent shooting.

The Celtics didn’t need him, not with the way Pierce took charge from the beginning, scoring nine of their first 16 points.

In his first nine seasons since being drafted, Pierce’s Boston teams won just three playoff series. He was determined to keep this season alive.

“I had it going, LeBron had it going and we just didn’t let up,” Pierce said. “Neither one of us wanted our teams to lose.

“I don’t think I really forced too much. Maybe I had a couple of rushed shots. But I just thought it was just my aggressiveness that led to open shots.”

Pierce hit 13 of 23 shots and James went 14-for-29. Pierce also made two free throws with 7.9 seconds left for the final points, then James missed a 3-pointer on the last shot of the game with 4.4 seconds to go.