Hawks 102, Celtics 96

Game Highlights

Photo of the Game

Rajon Rondo reaches in for a steal against the Hawks' Joe Johnson.
Brian Babineu/NBAE/Getty

By Marc D'Amico
Celtics.com

Key Moment

There's no questioning what the key moment was in tonight's game. With the Celtics ahead by 10 points and 6:19 remaining in the third period, Ray Allen lost control of the ball and Marvin Williams picked it up for the Hawks. He streaked down court for a dunk attempt, but as he rose up for the slam, Glen Davis came from behind to make sure that bucket wasn't going in. He fouled Williams -- he fouled him hard -- and that's where things began to unravel for Boston and mayhem ensued.

After a quick meeting between the referees, it was determined that Davis' foul was a flagrant-one, resulting in two free throws and possession of the ball. When the refs made the call, Doc Rivers erupted with displeasure and wasn't shy about letting those refs know how he felt. He wound up picking up back-to-back technical fouls, resulting in his ejection, and leaving the Hawks with four upcoming free throws.

Jamal Crawford hit those two technical free throws, and in the process, Celtics Assistant Coach Armond Hill was whistled for yet another technical foul. Count em up... that's five free throws in a row for Atlanta, plus possession.

Atlanta wound up making four of the freebies, cutting the Celtics lead to six. The Hawks didn't take a lead until the final period, but every bounce and every call went their way from that point on, eventually leading them to a dramatic comeback win in the Garden.

Key Box Score Line

This is becoming a familiar spot for Rajon Rondo. Once again, he had the best game of any Celtic, finishing with 26 points on 12-of-20 shooting. He drove to the basket at will for the majority of the game and at times was the only Celtic player who was reliable on the offensive end. It wasn't the best game of his season, but he was certainly the best Boston player tonight.

Box Score Nuggets

• Joe Johnson scored a game-high 26 points on 14-of-25 shooting.
• Brian Scalabrine scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds in a spot-start for the injured Rasheed Wallace, who was slotted to start in place of the injured Kevin Garnett.
• Boston made one more field goal than Atlanta while taking 12 less shots.
• Atlanta finished with only seven turnovers in the game.
• Glen Davis scored 13 points off the bench for Boston in 27:31 of playing time. No other Celtic played more than 8:25 off the bench.
• Atlanta took 15 more free throws (33) than Boston (18).
• Boston shot 50.0 percent from 3-point range (10-of-20) while Atlanta shot 56.3 percent from downtown (9-of-16).
• Boston was hit with three technical fouls and one flagrant foul in the game, and all occurred with 6:16 remaining in the third period.
• Paul Pierce finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
• Jamal Crawford scored 17 points off the bench for Atlanta.
• The Celtics grabbed only three offensive rebounds to Atlanta's nine, but won the overall rebounding battle 35-30.

Quote of the Night

Doc Rivers on his ejection from the game: "I told the guys after the game, number one, that's always on me. I don't think I should ever get thrown out. I don't know when the last time I was thrown out, actually. I'm sure you've done the research and know. So I don't care how bad you think the calls are at that moment. You know, somehow you have to try to ring yourself back in. Honestly, I reacted –- I was so shocked at what they were calling. They were talking about 'Was it a breakaway or not?' The last thing I had in my mind -- I didn't even think flagrant; I didn't even think that was part of that discussion. So I was so surprised by that and I reacted, and I never should."