Boston —- Josh Smith thought he was ready.

If the Hawks were going to "shock the world," Smith knew he'd need his A game for the rowdy fans at TD Banknorth Garden on Sunday in Game 7 of the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

While Hawks star Joe Johnson got off to a good start, Smith and the rest of the team didn't follow suit in a 99-65 loss.

"It was real important to try to be able to control the tempo, but when I was missing little chip shots I knew that it was going to be a rough night for me, because I don't normally miss layups," said Smith, who had more turnovers than rebounds (five to four).

Smith struggled for most of the first half. He shot 1-for-6, had four turnovers and picked up two fouls. He went 3-of-11 for the game, with seven points.

Smith also had a difficult time with Boston's Kevin Garnett, who shot 5-for-7 and had 10 points and 7 rebounds by halftime. He finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

One problem area for Smith came around the basket, where he elected to put soft shots off the glass instead of going with more force and dunking.

"It's definitely disappointing, because this game doesn't take away from all of the other games that we played in this series," Smith said. "It is disappointing that we weren't able to show a better effort and have a better outcome."

With Smith struggling to find his game, the Hawks didn't stand much of a chance.

"We didn't play together on the road," Johnson said. "We let them out-tough us, and that's a battle that they can't beat us in. We let them out-tough us every game here.

"We knew what to expect coming into Game 7. We have been up here three times. You would think the fourth time we'd show up with some pride, and we didn't do that."

Smith had his moments in the playoffs. He scored 28 points and blocked a playoff franchise-record seven shots in the Hawks' Game 4 victory. In Game 3 he scored 27 points and had nine rebounds.

But in the 34-point Boston strangulation, Smith could never seem to get in gear.

"I didn't play as well as I was capable of playing," Smith said. "But you know, you just have to have better performance. We knew that Joe was going to get doubled. We just didn't make plays."

Smith was a symbol of the Hawks' up-and-down performance during the series. They won at home in close games and got routed in all four games in Boston by an average of 25.3 points.

Smith was a different player in Boston than he was in Philips Arena.

"You've got to find some positive out of it, and you know we came further than what people thought we were going to do," Smith said. "Now they understand that the Hawks are a good team. We play hard and we try to bring it every night."

Smith believes that he and the Hawks did garner some respect for their play against the Celtics.

"I've got confidence in my team, confidence in my teammates," Smith said. "I know that if we play hard and if we play to the best of our capabilities that we can play with anybody."