Celtics rout Hawks to advance in NBA playoffs
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AFP) — Paul Pierce scored 22 points and Kevin Garnett added 18 as the Boston Celtics overwhelmed Atlanta 99-65 Sunday to reach the second round of the National Basketball Association playoffs.
The Celtics, who have won a record 16 NBA titles but none since 1986, beat the Hawks four games to three in the best-of-seven series, with home teams winning every game in the Eastern Conference first-round matchup.
"Atlanta wanted it to finish in seven games. This is what you get," Garnett said. "This is how we play at home. We play hard defense. It's hard to win here."
Boston will open the second round against Cleveland here on Tuesday. The Celtics split four regular-season games with the Cavaliers, whose star LeBron James averaged 32.3 points against Boston on his way to the NBA scoring title.
"We're solid at home. We have to learn how to win on the road," Garnett said. "We're going to enjoy this and get ready for Cleveland."
"We can celebrate for maybe an hour, but then let it go and back to the scouting report," Boston center Kendrick Perkins said. "Besides LeBron they have a lot of guys that can play, they just came out of a tough Washington series, we just have to have another great focus."
The Celtics had an NBA-best 66-16 regular-season record to earn a home-court edge throughout the NBA playoffs, but any intimidation factor from the feat might have been lost after struggles with Atlanta, the losingest playoff club.
Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen have a history of playoff failure, none of them ever reaching the NBA Finals despite individual success. But this season, they came together in Boston with the goal of finally winning a championship.
The Celtics avoided becoming only the fourth top seed ever dumped out of the playoffs by a bottom seed in the first round of the playoffs, although it did happen just last year when Golden State rocked Dallas.
Pierce sank a 3-pointer 30 seconds before the end of the first quarter to give the Celtics a 27-16 lead after the period. Pierce had nine points in the quarter while Perkins added eight points and six rebounds for Boston.
"We missed some good shots in that first period. We missed four layups," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson. "We didn't get back up the floor and that hurt us."
The Celtics stretched the lead to 44-26 at halftime, Boston's defense keeping Atlanta to only 26.3 percent shooting in the first half.
Atlanta's frustration bubbled over 2:51 into the third quarter when Marvin Williams tackled Boston guard Rajon Rondo as he jumped in the air for a layup to try and add to the Celtics' 51-28 lead.
Williams was ejected for the flagrant foul and Rondo answered with two free throws and an assist on a 3-pointer as Boston advanced the lead to double Atlanta's total at 56-28.
From there it was only a matter of how huge the blowout would be and whether or not the Hawks would avoid the record-low point total for a game seven, Cleveland's 61 against Detroit in 2006, against the Celtics reserves.
Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 16 points while Garnett had 11 rebounds and Perkins had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Celtics improved to 18-5 in seventh games, the most game seven wins by any club in NBA history. That includes a 15-3 record at home in seventh games.
Boston improved to 4-0 mark in game sevens against the Hawks, including the 1957 NBA Finals, when the Hawks were based in St. Louis, and the 1988 second round, when Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins were stars.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers avoided becoming only the second coach in NBA history to lose his first three game sevens.
The Celtics were never expected to need a game seven against the lowly Hawks.
"I really had no doubt in my mind how we was going to come out tonight," Pierce said. "You kind of saw it from the guys after game six on the plane - wasn't a lot of talking, we knew that we let a couple of games get away in Atlanta, and I just knew we was going to take care of business tonight."
