The AP reports: Forget about a Boston sweep. The Hawks are headed back to
Beantown all tied up with the mighty Celtics. Joe Johnson scored 35 points—20
in the fourth quarter—and Josh Smith added 28 points and seven blocks for
Atlanta, which surprised the Celtics again 97-92 on Monday night to even the
best-of-seven series at two games apiece… The credit for this Atlanta
stunner goes largely to Johnson, who took control in the final quarter. After
Smith’s jumper put the Hawks ahead to stay 81-79, Johnson scored nine
straight points to keep the Celtics on the ropes… Josh Smith set an
Atlanta playoff record with seven blocks, the last of them a key swat on Garnett
after he backed down in the lane, looking for the easy shot, with just over 3
minutes left… The Hawks led 51-48 at halftime, only to put themselves in
another hole with a dismal third quarter. Standing around on offense and doing
little to create shots, Atlanta was 6-of-17 from the field, missed all seven of
its 3-point attempts and turned it over seven times, giving Boston plenty of
easy baskets.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Hawks shot 47.8%, the Celtics 41.2%, though
Boston took 85 shots while Atlanta only took 67. And the Celtics rocked from
outside, nailing 12-of-23 three-pointers, while the Hawks were just 4-of-18. But
Atlanta hit 29-of-33 free throws, Boston just 10-of-18, and that was the
difference. Rebounds were almost even, and the Celtics dished more assists. For
the Hawks, Joe Johnson (14-of-24) had 35 points and 6 assists (but 4 turnovers).
Josh Smith (8-of-16, 12-of-13 free throws) had 28 points, 6 rebounds and 7
blocks. Mike Bibby (5-of-8) had 18 points and more turnovers than assists. Al
Horford shot badly for 4 points but grabbed 13 rebounds. For the Celtics, Ray
Allen (8-of-14) had 21 points and 4 assists. Kevin Garnett needed 21 shots for
20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals. Paul Pierce (5-of-14) had 18 points, 7
rebounds and 5 assists. Rajon Rondo needed 16 shots for his 14 points and 12
assists.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Sekou Smith) reports: There’s no
question Kevin Garnett’s relentless verbal barrage has energized the
Hawks’ retaliatory talents. “That’s all he does is talk. He
talks probably every play,” Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson said
Sunday when asked about Garnett’s running dialogue. When asked if Garnett
was asking for suggestions about dinner hot spots around town, Johnson just
smiled. “A lot of times he talks to himself,” Johnson said.
“It’s crazy.”

The AP reports: Give Josh Smith a perfect 10 in his personal dunking contest.
And give the Atlanta Hawks some credit: The team that was supposed to get swept
by big, bad Boston in the opening round of the playoffs pulled off a win that
was nine years in the making. The high-flying Smith scored 27 points and the
Hawks earned their first playoff victory since 1999, beating the Celtics 102-93
Saturday night to cut Boston’s lead in the series to 2-1…
“We’re not satisfied,” said Joe Johnson, who added 23 points for
Atlanta… The Hawks took control in the third quarter, outscoring the
Celtics 28-18 and limiting Boston to 5-of-21 shooting. Atlanta went on to its
first playoff win since May 16, 1999, a Game 5 clincher over the Detroit
Pistons… Rookie Al Horford was a force on the inside. He had 17 points, 14
rebounds, six assists and showed he wasn’t afraid of the mighty Celtics,
jawing with Paul Pierce in the final minute. Kevin Garnett led Boston with 32
points, but the NBA’s youngest playoff team had him kneeling over, looking
totally exhausted, by the end of the game.

The AP reports: Rajon Rondo outplayed Mike Bibby and helped the Boston
Celtics silence Atlanta and its blustery point guard. Kevin Garnett had 19
points and 10 rebounds, and Rondo added 12 points, eight assists and six
rebounds to lead Boston to a 96-77 victory over Atlanta on Wednesday night and a
2-0 lead in the first-round series. Paul Pierce returned from a first-quarter
knockdown to score 14 points, and Kendrick Perkins added eight points and nine
rebounds for the Celtics. Josh Smith, who helped take Pierce down and appeared
to land on him and roll over his head, had 13 points and eight rebounds for
Atlanta. But it was Bibby, who called the locals fair-weather fans during the
week, who drew the ire of the sold-out Boston Garden crowd… The Hawks came
out feisty and physical. Just 82 seconds in, Joe Johnson fouled Pierce to keep
him from an easy layup. Smith came in from the side and slammed Pierce to the
floor and landed on top of his chest before rolling over his head.
InsideHoops.com Notes: Bibby shot 2-of-7 for 12 points and just one assists.
The entire Hawks team had just 10 assists, while the Celtics had 23. The Celtics
had 15 steals, the Hawks just 4. The Hawks didn’t hit a single
three-pointer.

The NBA announced today that Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics is the
recipient of the 2007-08 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award presented by Kia
Motors.
The 6-11 forward led the Celtics in rebounds with a 9.2 average (7.3 defensive
rpg), to go along with 18.8 points, 1.2 blocks and 1.4 steals. He recorded a
team season-high seven blocks against Chicago on Dec. 12.
Garnett received 493 points, including 90 first-place votes, from a panel of
124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.
Denver’s Marcus Camby, who won the award last season, finished second with
178 points and Houston’s Shane Battier finished third with 175 points.
Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for
each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.
More info about the results will be posted on insidehoops.com’s front
page and awards section shortly.

The AP reports: Ray Allen scored 18 points and Kevin Garnett had 16 as the
two newcomers who led the Boston Celtics to the NBA’s best record sparked
them to a 104-81 win Sunday night in their playoff opener against the Atlanta
Hawks. Garnett stopped a 14-3 Hawks run with a jumper, starting a six-point
Boston surge that made it 35-27 in the second quarter. And Allen scored 10
straight Celtics points midway through the third that extended a 13-point lead
to 67-48 with 5:39 left in the period… Eighth-seeded Atlanta, which ended
the NBA’s longest playoff drought with its first appearance in nine years,
was led by rookie Al Horford with 20 points and 10 rebounds and Joe Johnson
added 19 points… Paul Pierce scored 16 for Boston and Rajon Rondo had
15.

The AP reports: Second-stringer Leon Powe scored a career-high 27 points,
adding 11 rebounds for his sixth career double-double, while Pierce, Kevin
Garnett, Ray Allen and the rest of the Boston starters rested up for the
playoffs. With their NBA-best 66 wins, the Celtics had already clinched the top
seed in the Eastern Conference and a matchup against the Atlanta Hawks in the
first round… Tony Allen scored 18 for Boston, which won its fourth
straight game and the 11th of its last 12. Richard Jefferson scored 24 points,
and Nenad Krstic scored 13 with a season-high 12 rebounds. The Nets ended up
34-48, missing the playoffs for first time since 2001.

The AP reports: Isiah Thomas was booed during pregame introductions and fans
chanted for him to be fired in the final minute. But while firing Thomas may be
the popular decision with fans, Jamal Crawford cautioned that it may not be the
right one… Doc Rivers gave Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen the
night off, but Rajon Rondo had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who
learned during the game they will face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of
the playoffs. Sam Cassell added 22 points for the Celtics, who got a halftime
pep talk from another champion who wears green: Masters winner Trevor Immelman,
who watched the game the day after collecting the green jacket.. Nate Robinson
scored 26 points and David Lee had 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks.
Rookie Wilson Chandler, who had been playing well lately, sprained his left knee
in the third quarter. X-rays were negative.

The AP (Howard Ulman) reports: Maybe Garnett won’t win his second most
valuable player award. Most stats favor Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Chris
Paul. But if there were an MIP award for Most Intense Player, the leader most
responsible for the Celtics’ record turnaround would have all the
qualifications. He is the best player on the team with the NBA’s best
record. He’s led the Celtics to the biggest single-season turnaround in
league history, breaking San Antonio’s record 36-game improvement. And
he’s the inspiration for a hard-working team that leads the NBA in point
differential and lowest opponents’ field goal percentage.
The AP continues: “Look at the team. Look at the team’s record. Look at
the turnaround,” Ray Allen said. “I think he’s probably the more
unselfish guy in the NBA (of the top MVP candidates) that’s made his team
better. It’s not just the offensive perspective.” Last season the
Celtics were 24-58, their second worst record for a franchise that has an NBA
best 16 championships. After trading for Garnett in the offseason, they are
64-16 after a 99-89 win Saturday night over Atlanta, their likely first-round
playoff opponent.

The Boston Herald (Mark Murphy) reports: The Celtics are now a remarkable
36-1 against sub-.500 teams, which goes a long way toward explaining why they
have the best record in basketball. “We play for ourselves, not other
teams,” said Kevin Garnett. “That’s what (coach) Doc Rivers says to
us. That comes to life when we play teams that don’t have any
significance. “We tend to not play to the competition’s level, because
we are playing for the postseason. We must experience the reps. If we go in
thinking we have to take care of business, and give other players the chance to
play, we need nothing more and nothing less.”