"I anticipate it being nothing short of emotion," said Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, who had 20 points and 16 rebounds against Atlanta. "Both teams are solid teams. People are expecting that to be the Eastern Conference finals matchup. It should be fun.
"They have three All-Stars, we have three All-Stars. They have a [heck] of a cast, we have a heck of a cast. They're coached by a great coach; we're coached by a great coach. Solidified organizations . . . history is there. It should be a fun game, exciting, a lot of emotion."
Boston is 3 1/2 games ahead of the Pistons for the lead in the East. Wednesday's game will be the last for the teams in the regular season; the series is tied, 1-1.
"It's a very important game for us," said Paul Pierce, who had 30 points yesterday. "It's definitely a team we can see in the playoffs. As we are trying to secure home-court advantage the rest of the playoffs and continue to win, this is a team that is right behind us. If we can get a little gap on them as we try to finish out the season, it would be great."
The Celtics have won five straight and eight straight at home. Pierce scored 17 of his game-high total in the third quarter. Kendrick Perkins matched Garnett's double-double with 11 points, a season-high tying 12 rebounds, and added a career-high 6 assists, and Ray Allen had 17 points.
"It's kind of like pick your poison," said Hawks forward Josh Smith, who had a team-high 22 points. "You just have to hope that on a given night that they aren't going to shoot the ball like they're going to shoot it because KG is going to get his numbers every night, he's pretty consistent with it. You just got to hope that Paul Pierce or Ray Allen is off."
The Hawks (24-33) haven't been to the playoffs since 1999. But with Smith, newly acquired point guard Mike Bibby, All-Star guard Joe Johnson, and Rookie of the Year candidate Al Horford (14 points, 11 rebounds), Atlanta has a chance not only to get back in the postseason, but also to possibly play Boston in the first round.
"They will probably end up being a team we see in the first round," Pierce said. "They're a team that can definitely play in the seventh spot or the eighth spot [in the East]."
