It was over.

The game. The series. The surprising scare Atlanta put into the NBA's best.

Garnett had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Pierce scored 22 points, and the Celtics turned back the pesky Hawks with a 99-65 victory yesterday in Game 7 of their playoff series in Boston to advance to the second round against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Game 1 is tomorrow.

"[Cleveland's] a group that's defending Eastern Conference champs," Garnett said. "To do anything, you've got to go through them."

The Celtics started the celebration early, holding the Hawks to 10 points in the second quarter and doubling their 18-point halftime lead in the third.

"I really had no doubt in my mind how we were going to come out," Pierce said.

In another playoff game:

* At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant, celebrating what is expected to be his first MVP award, did just enough to lead the Lakers to another postseason victory with 38 points, six rebounds and seven assists as the Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 109-98 to begin the second round.

Pau Gasol added 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Lamar Odom had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers. Mehmet Okur had 21 points and 19 rebounds for the Jazz, who outrebounded the Lakers 58-41.

Noteworthy

"Things are going in a positive direction, but it's not going to be a quick deal," Donnie Nelson, the team's president of basketball operations, said yesterday. "We've just got to be patient." *