CLEVELAND, Ohio (AFP) - Cleveland superstar LeBron James had 32 points and 12 rebounds as the Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics 74-69 to force a deciding game seven in their National Basketball Association playoff series.

Needing a win to stay alive, the Cavaliers used a 19-0 run bridging the second and third quarters to take control of the contest and keep top-seeded Boston without a victory on the road this postseason.

Now the Celtics will host the Cavaliers on Sunday to decide the Eastern Conference second-round series, the winner of which will face the Detroit Pistons in the next round.

"We feel good," James said of the prospect of heading to Boston. "It's one game. We've got to let our hair down. We had a game tonight where we could have went down and it would have been over, so it's one game, we're going to let our hair down and go into Boston and try to steal this one."

Wally Szczerbiak hit a key 3-pointer with 2:10 to play to quash a late rally by the Celtics. Joe Smith made two free throws with 14 seconds left to seal the win for fourth-seeded Cleveland.

Kevin Garnett scored 25 points to lead the Celtics, who remained without a road victory in this postseason.