Burned in Atlanta

"We didn't help each other on offense and we didn't help each other on defense," guard Ray Allen said. "We still had plays, we made plays. But just the typical Celtic basketball that we played all year, we always helped each other on both ends of the floor. Tonight, we didn't do a great job of it."

The Hawks won their first playoff game since May 16, 1999, against Detroit. The Hawks received 27 points from Josh Smith and 23 from Joe Johnson.

"It's a fantastic feeling and it couldn't have happened to a better bunch of guys," Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said. "For this to happen for the City of Atlanta and our fans that supported us and have been with us all season, it's unbelievable."

Said Smith: "The [first] two games we played against Boston were blowout games. And I'm sure the Celtics thought the series was over."

Boston forward Kevin Garnett scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Celtics shot 44.4 percent from the field and missed 11 of 17 3-pointer attempts. The game was knotted at 56 at halftime. But after the Celtics were outscored, 28-18, in the third quarter, the Hawks seemed to cruise the rest of the way. Boston shot 23.8 percent from the field in the third while Atlanta shot 52.6 percent.

"I told the guys after the game that I thought each guy wanted to win the game by themselves, which you can't do," coach Doc Rivers said. "I like the fact that they wanted to win the game. The only way you're going to do that is as a team.

"Even in the end you saw Rajon [Rondo] try to back Mike Bibby down [and got a foul]. That's not what we do, but that's what they all did. Rajon tried to win the game for us. Ray wanted to win the game for us. Paul [Pierce] wanted to win the game for us. But we have to win it as a group and that's how it always has to be."