Celtics Advance Without Bird, Brown, Beating Pacers, 102-98

INDIANAPOLIS — The Boston Celtics became the first team to advance in the NBA playoffs with a 102-98 victory over Indiana on Monday night for a sweep of their best-of-five series.

The Celtics, the Atlantic Division champions, will meet the winner of the Cleveland-New Jersey series, which Cleveland leads, 2-0. The status of Boston starters Dee Brown and Larry Bird is still uncertain. Both sat out the first-round series.

The Celtics, who led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, found themselves behind, 95-94, after a dunk by Reggie Miller.

Kevin Gamble’s jump shot put Boston ahead to stay, 96-95, with 1:48 remaining, and the Celtic defense frustrated Indiana in the final minutes for the third consecutive game.

“We had it, we lost it, we got it back,” Boston Coach Chris Ford said of the latest victory. “I can’t say enough about our effort. The guys played together, and that’s the way we’ve been playing for the last month and a half.”

Reggie Lewis led Boston with 32 points but did most of his damage in the first half when he made 10 of 15 shots and scored 28 points.

Miller led Indiana with 32 points, and Detlef Schrempf had 23 points and 12 rebounds.

The outcome was a familiar one to Miller. “We were playing behind the eight-ball all this year, always battling back from 15-point deficits and catching on and losing in the (final) 30 seconds,” he said. “You can’t be like that.”

The Pacers maintained their record of having never reached the second round of the playoffs since entering the NBA in 1976.