CLEVELAND,  (Reuters) – The Boston Celtics pushed the  Cleveland Cavaliers to the brink of elimination on Tuesday and  one step closer to an off-season that will determine where the  team’s top player, LeBron James, will play next season.

James is one of a number of high-profile players who could  opt for free agency this year, and many experts feel anything  short of a trip to the finals should weigh heavily on whether  the six-times All-Star is wearing a new uniform next season.

Boston bottled up James and cruised to a convincing 120-88  victory over the top-seeded Cavaliers in front of a home crowd  that booed its team off the court.

Game Six will be played in Boston today. The winner  of this series will play the Orlando Magic in the Eastern  Conference final.

Ray Allen provided the shooting touch with a game-high 25  points, including six three-pointers, while Boston’s defence  held James to 15 points on 3-for-14 shooting as the Celtics  moved ahead in the series 3-2.

“We cannot come back (to Cleveland),” Boston forward Kevin  Garnett told reporters. “We have to think this is our Game  Seven coming up. We can’t afford to have the best team in the  league come back to their home floor.”

The two Eastern Confer-ence rivals had traded wins through  the first four games, but the veteran Celtics caught fire at  the right time to capture their second straight.

Point guard Rajon Rondo was the focus entering the night  after he tormented Cleveland with a triple-double in Game Four,  but it was Paul Pierce who broke out of a slump with 21 points  and 11 rebounds.

The Cavaliers led early and were up by eight in the second  quarter before a 16-0 run gave the visitors control.

Boston carried their momentum into the third where they  opened the quarter with a 12-2 spurt to go by 16 and they never  looked back.