Kevin Garnett takes Boston Celtics to the second round; Atlanta Hawks go down 83-80 in Game-6
The Boston Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks at the Garden to win the first round Eastern Conference series 4-2.
The Celtics have moved into the second round of the Playoffs for the fifth straight year. The Hawks, on the other hand, failed to advance to the second round for the first time in four years. The Celtics will now meet the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2nd round, who ousted the Bulls from the playoffs with a 4-2 series victory.
Kevin Garnett was the man of the night. After being branded as the 'dirtiest player' around by one of the minority owners of Atlanta, the veteran reponded with a game high 28 points and hauled down 14 rebounds. Josh Smith led the Hawks with 18 points and 9 rebounds.
The first two quarters were quite evenly contested, with the Celtics leading the Hawks 47-41 at halftime. The Green were leading by 10 with only a minute left in the half but the Hawks finished the half with 4 straight points to cut the lead to 6.
The C’s maintained their lead in third and a Ray Allen three put them up by 8 with 2:07 left in the frame. Joe Johnson dropped two long range bombs to make it a two point game, before Rajon Rondo made a jumper at the buzzer to make it 67-63 for Boston.
The Celtics went on a 7-0 run early in the 4th period to lead 74-65, but the Hawks responded with a 14-2 run of their own to come back and lead the game 79-76. With 2:05 left on the clock Pierce made a deuce to make it 78-79. There was no point scored for the next 99 seconds, before Garnett scored a crunch jump shot to give Boston an 80-79 lead.
Josh Smith then missed a jump shot, forcing the Hawks to foul the Celtics, which sent Ray Allen to the foul line. He scored one out of two and gave Boston an 81-79 lead with 9 seconds left. Al Horford was fouled on the following possession but missed one of two free throws that could have tied the game for the Hawks. Atlanta trailed 80-81 and Boston then finished the game with 2 free throws to win 83-80.
Paul Pierce had 18 points and 7 assists for the night while Rajon Rondo added 14 points and 8 assists. Ray Allen had an off night, going 1 of 7 from beyond the arc and scoring 7 points only. Joe Johnson had 17 points for the Hawks and Al Horford added 15 points and 9 rebounds.
Atlanta shot much better from the 3 point line as compared to Boston. They were 7 of 15 as compared to only 2 of 10 by Boston. Both teams shot the same percentage from the field and Atlanta were 9 of 10 from the foul line, but missed the most crucial free throw of the night.
The Boston Celtics will now face the 76ers Saturday night in Boston as they start their second round of the playoffs. Fortune seems to be favouring them as after being expected to play the series against Chicago at home, injury to Derrick Rose allowed the Sixers to defeat the Bulls and now the Celtics have home court advantage against the Sixers.
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