Boston —- Forearm shivers, bumps and the occasional body block.

The Hawks saw it all Sunday, wearing down and then being worn out late by Boston.

Make no mistake, the Hawks battled from the opening tip to the final buzzer, losing 98-88 in what could be a first-round Eastern Conference playoff preview, before a raucous sellout crowd of 18,624 at TD Banknorth Garden.

The Hawks' frontcourt of Josh Smith and Al Horford worked tirelessly to combat their Celtics counterparts. It just wasn't enough to continue the Hawks' two-game win streak.

Paul Pierce drilled the Hawks (24-33) for 30 points, 25 of those after halftime, when the Celtics ran off 57 points.

Kevin Garnett added 20 and 16 rebounds, and Kendrick Perkins had 11 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocks as the Celtics' frontcourt crew sent a message loud and clear that the Hawks' slim halftime lead was nothing more than a temporary setback.

"They're a physical team and a defensive-minded team that's geared for the playoffs already," said Smith, who led the Hawks with 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. "We battled them every step of the way. But with a team like that, you can't keep doing the same thing and expect it to keep working.

"They made runs in the second half, and we just weren't able to keep up with them. We held them down in the first half, but we let them get going at the wrong time and it cost us."

Pierce scored 11 consecutive points to start the third quarter. He had 17 in the quarter, and Ray Allen played the sidekick role to perfection with eight points in the period.

"I just tried to play within the flow of the game," Pierce said. "You know, let the game come to me. I thought in the second half I just wanted to be a little more aggressive than I was [in the first]. I saw an opportunity and guys were finding me, setting up the screens."

The Hawks had to know this was coming when they walked off the court at halftime with a 44-41 lead. Garnett was talking to himself, angry no doubt he'd allowed the Hawks to outhustle and outmuscle his crew.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said it took his team that long to adjust to dealing with the Hawks' long and athletic lineup on the defensive end, especially Smith.

"He didn't have a lot of blocks, but he changed 100 shots in the first half on his own," Rivers said. "I thought there were times we were at the basket, he wasn't there, but we thought he was around. We were pump-faking and going away. And all we talked about at halftime was coming off picks, attacking the basket and going through bodies.

"We were trying to avoid bodies to avoid the shot blocker. And the way to attack a shot blocker is you go through him. And I thought we did a great job."

While the Celtics adjusted to the Hawks' defense in the second half, the Hawks couldn't regain their stride after using a 14-2 run to take that halftime lead.

Horford finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, but Hawks captain Joe Johnson struggled, scoring nine points on 4-for-16 shooting, going scoreless in the second half on 0-for-7 shooting.

"When you play this team, if you're struggling to score the ball, you better make [darn] sure that you are defending on the other end," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson, whose team dropped to a dreadful 7-22 on the road this season.

NEXT FOR HAWKS

> Who: vs. Warriors

> When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

> TV; radio: SportSouth; 790 AM