Celtics - Getting Inside

The Hawks are trying to play the “nothing to lose” card, and the Celtics are swatting that notion.

As the teams get into their first-round playoff series, Atlanta’s Josh Smith said, “The beautiful thing is that no matter what we’ve been through, or how people have talked bad about us, we’ve accomplished our original goal by making the playoffs. Now it’s about not letting this be it. We’ve got to be hungry for more.”

Not so fast, according to Celtic coach Doc Rivers.

“They have the series to lose,” he said. “They have the same thing to lose that we do. I love when people say they have nothing to lose. That’s a bunch of (expletive). They have just as much to lose as us. If they lose this series, they’re going to be really disappointed. If we lose this series, we’re going to be really disappointed.

“I’ve been the eighth seed as a coach and an eighth seed as a player, I (felt) the same pressure as the first seed. You want to win that series.”

Ray Allen sees through the Hawk talk.

“That’s just an attempt to put pressure on the other team,” he said. “I know you tend to think one team has the edge, but they’re all playing for something.”

Celtics 104, Hawks 81: Thankfully for the Celtics, there were no surprises in Game 1 against Atlanta Sunday night in Boston. They got 18 points from Ray Allen and 16 apiece from Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in a near wire-to-wire victory.

The Hawks took a 2-0 lead on a Marvin Williams jumper, but the Celtics scored the next 11 points and never again trailed.

Allen had 12 of his points in the third quarter, making four of five shots in the stretch, to open things up.

“We found a play that worked, and we exploited it,” Allen said.

The Celtics also benefited from the fact Rajon Rondo had 15 points and nine assists while the more experience Mike Bibby had five and one.

Notes, Quotes

• Kevin Garnett missed two of the Celtics’ three pre-series practices for personal reasons. Although he didn’t want to get into details, it was reported that his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child.

“Family issues are never public, so I ask (the media) to respect that,” said Garnett. “I’m looking forward to playing. I’m excited to play.”

Garnett did a good deal of homework and was on the same game plan page with his mates heading into Game 1.

“We got edits (and) we got film,” he said. “Like I said, I had family issues, but I stayed in the loop through booklets and edited tapes. I haven’t missed a beat. Playoff time is when you get your homework in. It’s like class. You go in, you study, you prepare.”

• Ray Allen wasn’t pleased to learn the NBA owners voted to allow the Supersonics to move to Oklahoma City (pending a local lawsuit regarding the arena lease in Seattle).

“I’m very disappointed, because now I see people trying to force the owner to honor the last two years of the lease, and when I was there you didn’t see that happening,” Allen said. “I just wish people had the same urgency at that time. That’s human nature, though. It’s like a basketball game, when you don’t start to press until the fourth quarter. But everyone in Seattle is trying to do that now.”

Said Allen of former Sonics owner and Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, “He’s the one in the first place who put the team in the predicament it’s in now. He’s the one who sold it to the Oklahoma City group, when there were local investors who wanted to buy it. But he knew he could get more money from an outside group. They rushed to get their pockets filled.”

Quote To Note: “I just think that in the playoffs the guys realize there is more at stake.”—Paul Pierce, on the intensity of Game 1.

Roster Report:

Rotation: Point guard Rajon Rondo, Shooting guard Ray Allen, Small forward Paul Pierce, Power forward Kevin Garnett, Center Kendrick Perkins. Bench—Guard Eddie House, Forward James Posey, Guard Tony Allen, Guard Sam Cassell, Forward Leon Powe, Forward Brian Scalabrine, Forward Glen Davis, Forward P.J. Brown, Guard Gabe Pruitt.

Player Notes:

• G Sam Cassell was the first point guard off the Celtic bench. He had 10 points in 16 minutes.

• F/C Leon Powe was the first big man off the bench. After a slow start, he finished with 10 points and four rebounds in 24 minutes.

• C Kendrick Perkins was limited by foul trouble to 20 minutes. He had trouble with rookie Al Horford, who led the Hawks with 20 points.

• F Paul Pierce hit his first three treys and missed his last two. The Celtics shot 56.3 percent from that distance, making nine of 16.