Boston —- Had his teammates attacked the Celtics the way Acie Law IV went after that Quarter Pounder following Wednesday's 96-77 loss, the Hawks might not trail their playoff series 2-0.

Law, though, had special motivation.

"I haven't eaten all day, not since breakfast," the rookie reserve point guard said. "I pretty much knew I was going to play tonight, and I was nervous as hell. Couldn't eat."

He did play, and pretty well, making all four of his shots and finishing with 12 points in over 21 minutes. That's more than he's played in any of Atlanta's past 18 games.

Law has made all five of his field goals in this first-round Eastern Conference playoff series —- or one more than starting point guard Mike Bibby.

"[The coaches] said that they were thinking that if Mike wasn't shooting the ball well they were going to give me a look early," Law said after making all four of his free throws and adding an assist, a steal and four turnovers. "I wanted to go out there and take advantage of it, convince them that I can get on the floor."

Many a rookie season in the NBA has been forgettable, like Law's.

He missed 10 games because of a sprained ankle, another 10 with a sprained wrist. Coach Mike Woodson kept him on the bench for another five (including four of the last six) even though he was healthy.

There were times Law had problems handling the ball Wednesday, but there were few other signs of rust. After entering the game with 4:03 left in the first quarter, he immediately turned the ball over.

But he drove to score a few minutes later, and in the second quarter hit a 20-foot jumper and then scored on another drive down the middle. These buckets were not coming in garbage time, like his three minutes in Game 1.

Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who studies lots of film with teammate Kevin Garnett, had another fine game, scoring 12 points. He had six of his game-high eight assists in the first half and helped harass Bibby into another poor shooting night.

For a moment late Wednesday, Law had his attention elsewhere. He was chowing.

"Man, Ace, that burger's not going anywhere," teammate Salim Stoudamire said.

Interrupted, and asked if he knows yet what he wants to spend the most time working on in the offseason, he sounded, well, like Rondo.

"I just want to watch a lot of film because I feel like I can be in the places on the floor that I need to get to, but it's so different in the NBA because everything closes so quickly," Law said. "I need to learn the offense that we're going to run like the back of my hand. I need to know my teammates and their likes and dislikes, and I need to work on my game —- shooting, ball-handling, decision-making, defense, everything."