Celtics-Hawks Preview

By PAUL NEWBERRY
Posted May 07 2012 6:56PM

ATLANTA (AP) Boston's Big Three still has some life in those old bones.

Thirty-somethings Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen led the Celtics to their most recent NBA championship in 2008, and this could be their last hurrah together in Beantown.

If so, they're clearly looking to go out with a bang.

"They have pride," Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford said Monday. "That goes a long way."

The Big Three (plus, let's not forget, Rajon Rondo) have led the Celtics to a 3-1 lead over the Hawks. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Atlanta, with Boston looking to wrap up the series after a 22-point blowout that wasn't really that close.

The Hawks know what they're up against, facing an experienced team with a trio of aging stars who clearly have something to prove.

"They've got guys who've been in wars, who've been in the trenches, who've been in these type of situations more than we have," Atlanta coach Larry Drew said. "When you look at their history over the last few years with Paul and KJ and Ray, and now with the way Rondo has been playing, they've always been a dangerous team to me."

Plenty of skeptics figured Boston was all washed up early in the season, and it's easy to see why. The Celtics approached the midway point at 15-17, closer to missing the playoffs than making any noise in the postseason.

But they were one of the best teams in the league the rest of the way, winning 24 of their last 34 games and carrying that momentum into the playoffs. After three tight games with Atlanta, they took control of the series with a 101-79 rout Sunday night.

The 34-year-old Pierce scored 24 points in less than 19 minutes - not bad, considering he hurt his left knee in the morning shootaround and the Celtics weren't even sure he'd be able to play. He's averaging a series-leading 23.3 points a game, including a gutsy 36-point effort in Game 2, when Boston grabbed a win on the road even with Rondo serving a suspension for bumping a referee.

The 35-year-old Garnett and 36-year-old Allen are doing their part, too.

KG is averaging 17 points in the series and leads the Celtics in rebounding (10.5 a game). Allen, who had not played since April 10 because of bone spurs in his right ankle, returned for the past two games in Boston to provide valuable minutes off the bench. He's averaging 12.5 points.

"I feel surprisingly great," Allen said.

Of course, the Big Three is actually the Big Four. Rondo got off to a rough start in the series, bumping an official while complaining about a call in the final minute of Atlanta's Game 1 victory.

After sitting out Game 2, Rondo returned to put up a triple-double (17 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists) in the next game, allowing the Celtics to pull out an overtime victory after the Hawks rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter. He followed with 20 points and 16 assists Sunday night, which gave his older teammates a chance to get some much-needed rest in the second half.

"That's Rondo being Rondo," Pierce said. "He's one of the best point guards in the NBA. He has the confidence and controls the game."

The Hawks suddenly look like a team in disarray, even though they have their own version of the Big Three back together for the first time since January.

Center Al Horford, who missed nearly the entire regular season recovering from pectoral surgery, made a surprise return in Game 4 after initially saying he would definitely have to sit out the opening round of the playoffs.

While Horford turned in a surprisingly solid performance off the bench, scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds, the rest of the team seemed completely out of sync - especially Joe Johnson.

The Hawks go-to offensive player took only eight shots and finished with nine points. He was virtually non-existent as the Celtics raced to a 23-point lead at halftime and essentially clinched the game early in the third quarter, leading by as many as 37.

Johnson was clearly frustrated by the lack of scoring opportunities.

"I don't think they're doing anything different defensively on me," he said. "It's just basically getting an opportunity to touch the ball. That's it."

While praising Horford's performance, Johnson said the center's return seemed to hurt the chemistry the Hawks had developed over the three months without him.

"Whether the rotations are different or the guys don't know when they're going to play, I don't know what it is," Johnson said. "You've got a whole team back together that hasn't played together since January. It is kind of tough to change that coming into Game 4 of the playoffs. That's a big adjustment."

Drew shrugged off the comments, saying it was up to Johnson "to be more aggressive working to get his shots" while the guys around him need to recognize when he's gone more than one or two possessions without getting a shot.

"There were a number of situations where we could have made one extra pass, and that extra pass would have been to him," Drew said. "We need to be more mindful when he's out there to make sure he's getting touches."

With the potential for two more home games, the Hawks aren't giving up on the series. They already had a surprisingly solid season without Horford and believe coping with that adversity prepared them to overcome a huge hurdle in the playoffs.

"This is not the end of the world," Drew said. "This is an opportunity to show what we're made of."

The Celtics are ready to wrap things up and give their Big Three a few extra days of rest before the second round.

"You don't want to give a team any confidence," Pierce said. "You've got to go down to Atlanta with the right mindset. You don't want to bring it back to Boston because anything could happen. The NBA is a weird league. One game could give a team confidence. "

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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Horford, Hawks stay alive, beat Celtics 87-86

By PAUL NEWBERRY
Posted May 09 2012 5:10AM

ATLANTA (AP) Al Horford missed most of the season.

Now that he's back, the Atlanta Hawks center wants to keep it going as long as he can.

In his first start since January, Horford scored 19 points, hit Atlanta's final two baskets and came up with a potentially season-saving defensive play that allowed the Hawks to hang on for a frenetic 87-86 victory over Boston in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference playoffs Tuesday night, cutting the Celtics' lead in the series to 3-2.

Game 6 is Thursday night in Boston.

If the Hawks can steal one on the road - and they're nearly back at full strength for the first time in more than three months - the decisive game would be back in Atlanta on Saturday.

"We can be nothing but confident," Horford said. "We know it's going to be a big challenge up there."

It looks a little less daunting with the third member of Atlanta's own Big Three back on the court, leading fast breaks and diving fearlessly on the court for loose balls, not the least bit worried about reinjuring his patched-up pectoral muscle.

In addition to pacing the Hawks in scoring, he grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out three assists, came up with three steals and blocked three shots - all while playing more than 31 minutes, far more than the Hawks intended.

"I didn't expect to play that many at all," he said. "We had an arrangement. It was going to be between 15 and 25."

With the season on the line, Horford and the Hawks couldn't worry about arrangements.

"I just wanted to bring that energy to the team and make sure we gave it all we had," he said.

Boston had a chance to end the series when Rajon Rondo stole Josh Smith's inbounds pass with 10 seconds remaining and raced down the court, looking for the winner. But the point guard got hemmed in along the sideline when Horford jumped out to defend him, which caused Rondo to lose control and fling a desperation pass. Smith knocked it away, the ball rolling harmlessly out of bounds as the horn sounded.

"I cornered myself," Rondo said. "Give Al credit."

A relieved Smith collapsed on the scorer's table as glittery streamers fell from the rafters.

"I feel awful the game ended the way it ended, because I thought Rondo willed us back into the game," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 16 points apiece. Rondo had 13 points and 12 assists, and the last of his five steals gave Boston a chance to clinch the series early and get some much-needed rest.

Instead, there's still work to do, and now the Celtics have to cope with a player who spent most of the year rehabbing. Horford tore his left pectoral muscle in January, missing the rest of the regular season and the first three games of the playoffs. But he made a surprise return in Game 4, one of the few bright spots in an embarrassing 101-79 loss that gave the Celtics command of the series.

"We got everybody back at the right time," Atlanta star Joe Johnson said. "We have a chance to do something special."

Smith clearly looked hobbled by a sore knee that kept him out of Game 3, but still managed 13 points and 16 rebounds. Jeff Teague had 16 points, while Johnson and Marvin Williams had 15 apiece, giving Atlanta double-figure scoring from all five starters in a revamped lineup.

"This is the team they thought they were going to start the season with," Rivers said. "They now have it, and we have to deal with it."

In a back-and-forth game, the Celtics tied it at 83 on Ray Allen's 3-pointer from the corner, capping a quick 7-0 run.

The Hawks called time out and set up a play that reclaimed the lead for good. Teague drove into the lane and dumped it off to Horford for an uncontested dunk.

After Garnett missed a jumper in the lane, Johnson ran down the shot clock looking as though he had every intention of shooting. But, at the last possible second, he rifled a pass to Horford coming off the wing. The big center threw up a sort of pseudo-hook with Garnett and Brandon Bass all over him. The ball bounced around the rim before falling through with 1:34 left, giving the Hawks an 87-83 lead.

With less than a minute to go, after misses by Pierce and Horford, Pierce was inexplicably left open for a 3-pointer. He swished it, pulling the Celtics within a point. They wouldn't get another, even with a couple of chances.

Teague missed an open 3 for the Hawks, giving Pierce a look at the go-ahead shot. But his 18-foot jumper with Johnson in his face barely touched the bottom of the net, falling harmlessly out of bounds while Pierce looked around in disbelief, believing he must have been fouled.

Rondo's steal gave the Celtics one more opportunity, but they never got a shot off.

"My heart was racing a hundred miles an hour on that last sequence," Hawks coach Larry Drew said.

Boston appeared to have the momentum when it closed the third quarter on a Rondo-led 10-0 spurt that erased Atlanta's 12-point lead. The Celtics kept it going in the fourth, pushing out to a 73-69 lead on Allen's 3-pointer with 8 1/2 minutes remaining.

But no edge was safe in this topsy-turvy game. The Hawks ripped off a 14-3 run. The Celtics called time out and scored seven straight of their own, with Allen sinking another 3 to tie it up.

In the end, Horford came up with the biggest plays of all.

"He was a superman for us," Drew said.

Welcome back, Al.

Notes: The Hawks have used three different lineups in the five-game series. ... Despite bone spurs, Allen kept up his solid play off the bench with 15 points. Bass added 14. ... With Horford back, former starter Jason Collins played only 10 seconds for Atlanta.

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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Notebook: Hawks 87, Celtics 86

Posted Wednesday May 9, 2012 12:37AM

By Matt Winkeljohn, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: As the third quarter ticked away Tuesday in Atlanta, there was -- at least for the Hawks and their fans -- a hauntingly familiar feeling as the Celtics went white hot and the home team went cold. Boston scored the last 10 points of the period to pull within two, yet the Hawks fashioned a very different ending in the fourth quarter.

Al Horford -- who didn't play in Games 1, 2 or 3 -- finished a stout performance by making a heavily-contested six-foot hook shot over Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass for an 87-83 lead with 1:34 left. The Hawks then survived a Paul Pierce 3-pointer and an amazing steal by Rajon Rondo with just under 10 seconds left for an 87-86 win.

That won't make up for the Hawks' 87-80 Game 2 loss at home in which Atlanta lost a 12-point third quarter lead in a game for which Rondo was suspended, but Atlanta staved off elimination and will play Game 6 in Boston on Thursday.

Horford, who played in Sunday's Game 4 in Boston for the first time since tearing a pectoral muscle in early January, started and while he made his presence felt in the first half with six rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and a steal, he scored just two points.

He poured in 17 in the second half, though, and despite Atlanta coach Larry Drew saying before the game that he anticipated limiting Horford's playing time, the All-Star center played 41 minutes and was the game's high scorer and second-leading rebounder with 11. He also had three assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

The teams were tied at 40 at halftime, and the Hawks took off in the third quarter as Horford scored 11 points in the period. His free throw with 2:54 left gave Atlanta a 66-54 lead, but Atlanta did not get off a single shot attempt in the final 2:53 as the Hawks had a shot clock violation and three more turnovers off bad passes while the Celtics drew within 66-64 by the end of the quarter.

There were two ties and three lead changes in the fourth quarter.

Atlanta went ahead for good when Jeff Teague drove into traffic and made a short pass to Horford for a dunk with 2:20 left. That made it 85-83, and Josh Smith soon grabbed the last of his 16 rebounds moments later when Garnett missed.

Horford's hook shot followed with less than one second on the shot clock as he scored eight of Atlanta's final 14 points.

Pierce missed a layup, but added a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left to close within 87-86. After Teague missed a 3-pointer, Rondo rebounded long, and passed ahead to Pierce who missed a 20-footer fairly early in the shot clock. The Hawks rebounded, and Boston stopped the clock with 10.9 seconds left by fouling.

Atlanta took two timeouts in trying to inbound in front of the Boston bench, and still Rondo somehow managed to reach down and grab Smith's attempted bounce pass to Joe Johnson when the Hawks finally did trigger a play.

With just under 10 seconds left in the game, Rondo broke down the left sideline.

Horford, of all people, harassed the quick point guard as he dribbled in front of the Atlanta bench, and when Rondo turned back to try to pass to Garnett, Smith tipped the ball away and time expired before the ball rolled out of bounds.

Every Atlanta starter had at least 13 points. Teague had 16, Williams and Johnson 15, and Smith 13. Pierce and Garnett led Boston with 16 points each, Allen had 15 off the bench, and Bass scored 14.

QUOTABLE: "I was tired a little bit, but right now I feel fine. Maybe it's the adrenaline . . . and (Wednesday) it will be a different story. You're fighting for your life out there. I wanted to bring energy to the team tonight. Our backs are against the wall. [On the last play] the whole thing was to make [Rondo] pass the ball; I crowded him [toward the sideline] as much as I could, and Josh made a great play to get the deflection."
-- Horford

QUOTABLE II: "I tried to make a play, but got caught on the [sideline]. Give Al credit . . . Al makes a big difference. He can guard anybody on the court."
-- Rondo

QUOTABLE III: "My heart was racing 100 miles an hour on the last sequence. . . . We didn't make a smart play inbounding the ball, but I'm glad Josh had the presence of mind to on the last play to step up on Rondo when he came flying up the court (right after the steal). We were forced into a switch, and Al took the ball. Rondo tried to turn the corner, but Al force him back and then Josh deflected the (pass)."
-- Hawks coach Larry Drew

TURNING POINT: Given how miserable the Hawks were in losing Game 4 101-79 and knowing they were down 3-1 in the series, they might have been expected to pack it in upon falling behind 28-18 in the middle of the second quarter as they were miserable offensively. At one point, guard Kirk Hinrich was 3-for-4 off the bench but the rest of the Hawks were a combined 5-for-24.

Atlanta kept chipping away, though, and closed the period 22-12 and made 3-point shots on their final four possessions of the half. Two were made by Marvin Williams when he was left alone on the weakside, and then Joe Johnson and Teague made long balls. Rondo close the half with a buzzer-beating trey of his own to knot the score at 40-all.

Williams had 15 points in a starting role after scoring 16 total in the first four games of the series.

QUOTABLE IV: "Al Horford was terrific tonight. Both he and Williams made a big difference. ... I wish we had gone down the middle of the floor [on the last play] instead of the sideline, especially with a big on you. ... and I was hoping that (Rondo) would attack the basket, but he lost control of the ball and that blew up any chance that we had."
-- Celtics coach Doc Rivers

HOT: Horford made 7-of-10 shots in the second half, when the Hawks as a team made 19-of-31 (61.3 percent). ... Rondo had 10 of his 12 assists in the second half. . . . Allen has made 21-of-31 shots in three games after missing the first two games of the series (and more than two weeks before that) with bone spurs in his ankles. He made 5-of-10 Tuesday for 15 points, or six more than the entire Atlanta bench.

NOT: The Hawks made just 6-of-21 shots (28.6 percent) in the first quarter, when Josh Smith missed all seven of his tries. He missed two dunks Tuesday. He made 6-of-9 the rest of the way. ... Pierce made just 1-of-7 shots in the second and third quarters.

GOOD MOVE: Drew's decision to move Johnson to shooting guard in favor of Hinrich, and move Williams to small forward ultimately paid off with a win. It also meant that Boston shooting guard Avery Bradley played just 18:04 as a starter. At 6-feet-2, he's about four inches shorter than Johnson so the 6-5 Allen (29:56) and 6-6 Mickael Pietrus (14:31) chewed up more minutes (although Pietrus didn't spend a lot of time on Johnson.)

NOTABLE: Drew said that he anticipates every Atlanta player other than backup center Zaza Pachulia (sprained left foot) to be available for Game 6. ... Center Jason Collins started the first four games of the series for Atlanta, but played just 10 seconds Tuesday. In fact, Erick Dampier played 7:54 in the post for the Hawks, and had two points and two rebounds.

UP NEXT: Thursday @ Celtics, Saturday @ Hawks if necessary.

• Celtics: Johnson, Williams
• Hawks: Pachulia, Stackhouse

• Celtics: --
• Hawks: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #43 Dan Crawford, #36 David Jones, #49 Tom Washington
• Attendance: 19319
• Duration: 2:27