A strong start to the second half allowed the Celtics to rest Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo for most of the final quarter.
"Right now, we're building on just playing good basketball going into the playoffs," Pierce said. "We started off not really rebounding the ball, but I thought we defended well the whole night, and that's going to be the key. That's our focus night in and night out, is the way we defend."
Kendrick Perkins set the defensive tone with seven blocked shots, tying a career high. And Rondo stepped up the pace, igniting the Celtics' transition offense, scoring 13 of his 20 points in the third quarter.
The Celtics went on a 10-point run over a 1:38 span early in the third, starting with Glen Davis's banker, followed by consecutive 3-pointers by Allen and Pierce, and a Rondo dunk off a steal out of a Hawks timeout for a 62-52 lead with 8:15 remaining in the quarter. Josh Smith broke Atlanta's 0-for-11 3-point drought with 7:31 left (the first of three straight Hawk threes), then dunked to pull the Hawks within 63-57 with 6:56 remaining.
The Celtics then went into three mode for their final 9 points of the quarter for an 80-71 lead. Mikki Moore converted a 3-point play off a follow with 2:02 to go, then in the final 11 seconds Rondo hit a 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer and made three free throws off a 3-point try as the Hawks attempted to give a foul.
"[Rondo] has so many tricks up his sleeve," Perkins said. "The half-court thing, he knew they were going to foul him, so he threw it up and got three shots. His basketball IQ is through the roof.
"When Rondo is aggressive, I think there is no team in the league that can beat us. I'm talking about when he is looking to score, I think he's one of the better point guards in the league, and I don't think he gets enough credit. He's been working on his jump shot and he's just got to shoot it with confidence."
