Game 5 is tomorrow at TD Banknorth Garden, and Game 6 will be Friday in Atlanta.
"No one said it was going to be easy," said Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, who had 20 points and 9 rebounds. "They played really well tonight, obviously, on their home floor. I've said before, that's why you fight for home-court advantage during the playoffs because it does make a difference.
"They played well tonight. A lot of Joe Johnson. I'm sure we'll watch film, address that, and be ready for the [next] game."
To make matters worse for the Celtics, it's possible that Garnett and Kendrick Perkins could be suspended for Game 5 for their involvement in a second-quarter skirmish last night. Hawks forward Marvin Williams also is in jeopardy.
After a loose rebound with 7:24 left in the half, a frustrated Garnett gave Atlanta center Zaza Pachulia an elbow after the play was dead. Pachulia retaliated with what appeared to be a head butt. Players on both teams began to bunch up and mouth off, but the coaches ran on the floor to separate them.
Pachulia was given a foul and technical foul while Garnett, Johnson, and Boston's Sam Cassell were assessed technicals.
Replays showed Garnett shoving referee Ed Rush, and Perkins and Williams went on the floor from the bench, which usually means an automatic one-game suspension.
"I don't know anything about it," said Celtics guard Ray Allen, who had a team-high 21 points. "I'm sure if there is some relevance, then we're going to have to deal with it."
Only three times in NBA history has an eighth seed upset a top seed. It happened a year ago, when Golden State upset Dallas. Now Atlanta has a chance to make even bigger history.
"It's really win or go home now," Celtics guard Rajon Rondo said. "We don't want what happened to Dallas last year. We want to go home and take it one game at a time. We might have looked past these couple games that we lost, but we got to move on from it, break down film again and get better."
