 Along with his 29 points, Shareef Abdur-Rahim kept the Celtics off the boards in Atlanta. Scott Cunningham NBAE/Getty Images 56k | 300k |
Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 29 points and 12 rebounds and Dion Glover scored a season-high 24 points for the Hawks, who shot 58 percent (43-of-74) from the field and held a 46-31 rebounding advantage as they excelled at conventional basketball.
"I thought we had really good movement," Hawks coach Lon Kruger said. "In the first half, we really moved the ball well. Dion and Shareef established the tone early. We were getting good looks and good shots."
"Atlanta was very impressive tonight," Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said. "They shot the basketball great. They hurt us on the glass, especially in the first half. They played a really sharp basketball game."
Trailing by 17 points at halftime, the Celtics began firing away from long range -- and hitting like no team has done before. They made 10 3-pointers in the third quarter and pulled within 86-82 entering the final period.
"They were shooting so well from three, it seemed like they just kept making them," Kruger said. "That's a big part of their game. They do it well."
The barrage broke the NBA record for 3-pointers in a quarter of nine, set by Dallas at Vancouver on March 1, 1996 and tied by Houston at Seattle on December 9, 2000.
"In the third quarter, they came out blazing," Abdur-Rahim said. "They came out loose and kept hitting their shots. The good thing about us was we stuck together and did our thing."
The Hawks made sure the Celtics got no closer as Jason Terry opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer that started a 12-4 run. Boston had just one basket in the first four minutes of the period and two free throws by Abdur-Rahim gave Atlanta a 98-86 lead with 7:44 to play.
"We stayed composed," Terry said. "We knew we were home. I kept saying, `If we get to the fourth quarter and they're still hitting the threes, they deserve to win.'"
"We went to the three to loosen things up and come back," said O'Brien. "When we finally came back and cut it to four, I think we started taking ill-advised threes. They were challenging them."
Terry scored 22 points and Nazr Mohammed added 14 and nine rebounds for the Hawks, who have lost six of the last eight meetings with the Celtics.
Paul Pierce scored 33 points and Antoine Walker added 23 for the Celtics, who made 17 3-pointers -- two shy of the NBA mark -- in 37 attempts. Pierce made 6-of-14, Walker hit 5-of-9 and Erick Strickland and Milt Palacio sank three apiece.
"Them two guys Antoine and Paul, you know they're going to attack you," Abdur-Rahim said. "It's like being in a fight and you have to defend yourself."
"It's tough when you're down 19 or 20 points and come back and sustain the same energy," Walker said.
Abdur-Rahim scored 19 points and Glover 18 in the first half as Atlanta bolted to a 65-48 lead.
"I'm feeling real good, real confident about my game," Glover said. "All the hard work in the offseason is paying off."
Boston's first six baskets of the third quarter were 3-pointers. Strickland made two, Pierce three and Walker one, cutting the deficit to 74-66 with 6:45 left. Palacio hit two 3-pointers and Walker one in the final three minutes to pull Boston within 86-82.
After Terry's 3-pointer, Toni Kukoc answered Vitaly Potapenko's basket with a three-point play for a 92-84 lead. Abdur-Rahim had an inside hoop and two free throws around Terry's technical foul shot for a 96-86 lead.
"That's what we have to do," Glover said. "We can't hold our heads when a team makes a run. We competed and we won."
Strickland scored 17 points and Palacio added 15 for Boston.