A quick look at Sunday's Game 1 of the Hawks-Celtics Eastern Conference playoff series:

The runaway train

The Celtics opened the third quarter with an 11-4 run, and when Ray Allen caught the ball on the left wing in transition and fired away, the Hawks called timeout with 7:47 left after his 3-pointer. It didn't help. Boston and Allen kept pouring it on, pushing the lead to 67-48 on another Allen trey with 5:37 left in the period. He scored 11 points in the first 6:23 of the period after scoring seven in the first half. The Hawks made just 7-of-23 shots in the third quarter, Boston 10-of-20 in doubling the Celts' halftime lead of nine points.

He said it

"We were not happy at halftime [when the Celtics led 49-40]. When you have a chance to put a team away in the playoffs, you've got to do it. We made a concerted effort to make a push in the third quarter."

-- Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

Bad numbers

The Hawks trailed 49-40 at halftime, and the difference wasn't difficult to spot. Near even in several categories, the Hawks made just one of their scant five 3-point tries in the first half. The Celts made 5 of 7, Pierce hitting 3 of 4. ... Through three quarters, when Boston led 73-55, Atlanta starters Mike Bibby (2-of-9), Marvin Williams (2 of 6) and Josh Smith (2 of 8) made a combined 6-of-23 shots. ... Through three quarters, Boston whipped Atlanta 17-4 in points off turnovers (Atlanta had 13 turnovers Boston seven).

Key move

Boston didn't double-team Hawks point guard Bibby or sharpshooter Joe Johnson all the time, but the Celtics frequently ran help at the two when they had the ball in their hands. It helped the Boston cause. Bibby missed 8-of-10 shots, and Johnson 15 of 22.

Dunk of the game

Leon Powe made a thunderous dunk late in the game, on an assist from Paul Pierce. He was fouled on the play that got the crowd and the Celtics bench on their feet. He made the free throw to give Boston a 90-68 lead.

Faces in the crowd

Big cheers went up when a few members of the world champion Boston Red Sox -- namely Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Mike Lowell -- were shown on the big screen seated near courtside.