WALTHAM, Mass. – Kevin Garnett won’t be posting any comments from the 76ers’ owners on his mental bulletin board. The Philadelphia fans won’t be getting all riled up over comments deriding their loyalty.

“It’s Game 7. There’s no tomorrow,” Paul Pierce of the Celtics said before practice Friday. “If this isn’t the most important thing to you right now, there’s no way to motivate you as a basketball player.”

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Kevin Garnett isn’t coming up with anything to motivate himself like he did against the Atlanta Hawks. After all, this is a Game 7, and the game and the opponent will be enough. A loss and the Celtics are done; a win and a series against the Miami Heat will be next. The Associated Press

Paul Pierce was with the Celtics before they were the Big 3, and chances are he’ll be with them when their five-year run together comes to an end. The Associated Press

Ray Allen’s contract with the Celtics will be over at the end of the year, but right now his focus is on replacing Avery Bradley as a starter for the rest of the season. The Associated Press

Rajon Rondo will need to play a pivotal role tonight for the Boston Celtics – not just directing the offense but playing tough defense against the top Sixers guard on the court. The Associated Press

The Celtics and Sixers will play tonight for a spot in the Eastern Conference finals, where one of them will face the Miami Heat for the right to play for the NBA title. The 76ers forced the series to a decisive game by beating Boston 82-75 on Wednesday, keeping alive a surprising run that started when they knocked out top-seeded Chicago in the first round.

“I think they’re excited about the chance to go in there and have this Game 7 and see what we can do,” Philadelphia Coach Doug Collins said. “I don’t think we have any fear. I haven’t felt that in our guys at all. When we have played poorly, it’s not out of being fearful. I think sometimes we don’t execute well. That to me has nothing to do with whether or not the guys believe they can do it.”

The Sixers haven’t been to a Game 7 since 2001, and Collins said he was relying on the energy of a young team that has just one 30-year-old, Elton Brand, getting significant playing time. The Celtics, who have three in the starting lineup alone, are 3-2 in seventh games since the new Big Three was assembled in 2007.

Brand said his younger teammates are ready. Point guard Jrue Holiday, who called Game 6 the “end of the world,” said this would be “The End of the World II.”

“They’re not scared of the moment at all, which is really good for our team,” Brand said. “Some of the older guys are saying, ‘Hey, we don’t get this opportunity too many times. So let’s try to win this game.’ “

That’s also the mood in Boston, where they are gearing up for the last run of the new Big Three. Pierce is under contract, but Garnett and Ray Allen are free agents after the season.

Still, Garnett wasn’t manufacturing anything to motivate himself for the game, like he did for the finale against Atlanta when he fixated on comments by a Hawks owner calling him a dirty player. (He then fed the Sixers bulletin board material this week when he said they had fair-weather fans.)

Allen said he wasn’t thinking about the possibility it could be his last game with Boston.

“We’ve been so fortunate to do what we’ve done here,” he said. “It seems like we’ve been ruled out so many times before, so many years before. It’s just another opportunity to go out and be who we are, so we’re not worried about what’s beyond tomorrow. We’re worried more about what we have in the present day.”

The Celtics will be without guard Avery Bradley, who also missed Games 5 and 6. Rivers said Bradley will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on a left shoulder that frequently popped out of its socket during the regular season and playoffs.

Bradley has been a key part of the Celtics’ defense. Without him, Allen moves back into the starting lineup and Rajon Rondo will cover the best Sixers’ backcourt player.

“It’s disappointing when a player goes down, especially what Avery has given us this year,” Rivers said. “He’s a very valuable part of our team. Not having him makes Rondo have to go back to that role — and run the team. Rondo doesn’t have a lot of breaks.”

Rondo, who had an off night in Game 6 with nine points, six assists and nine rebounds — the first time these playoffs he has failed to reach double-digits in any of them — laughed at the suggestion the added responsibility will be too much for him.

“Oh man, it’s a lot of pressure,” he said with a chuckle. “We’re a team. We’re one of the few teams in the NBA where all five guys contribute. We’re not a one- or a two-man show. We play great as a team.”

It’s not the first injury for the Celtics, who lost Jeff Green to an aortic aneurism before the season began and got just 25 games out of starting center Jermaine O’Neal. During the playoffs, Allen has struggled with bone spurs in his ankle and Paul Pierce has a sprained MCL in his left knee.

“We need everything from everybody,” Pierce said. “Whoever steps out on that court has to understand: This is it.”

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