CELTICS 88, HAWKS 85: Almost enough

Whatever hold the Hawks had on the Boston Celtics at Philips Arena during the playoffs last season lived on for three quarters and 11 minutes Wednesday night.

But with multiple chances to put the world champs away on their home floor for the fourth straight time, the Hawks came up empty, losing 88-85 in the final seconds before a sellout crowd of 18,729.

Mike Bibby’s 3-point heave at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim, a somber ending to a wild day and night of buildup and action in one of the most anticipated games in recent Hawks history.

“We were right there and we just couldn’t get over the hump,” said Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson, who missed the second of two free throws with 2.7 seconds to play, a miss that cost the Hawks (15-10) a chance to send the game to overtime. “This is tough, tough, man. This isn’t the way we planned it.”

The two teams played three instant classics, all three won by the Hawks, during last season’s playoff series that stretched to seven games on the strength of the Hawks’ prowess before the home crowd.

But Wednesday, the Celtics (24-2) found the late-game mettle that was missing last spring, with All-Star Kevin Garnett making five straight baskets down the stretch to get the Celtics over the hump in a game the Hawks controlled much of the night.

Ray Allen’s free throws with 0.7 seconds to play sealed the Celtics’ 16th straight victory, snapping the Hawks’ three-game win streak and handing them just their second home loss in 14 games dating to the playoffs.

And while it’s easy to hang the game on Johnson’s missed free throw, the Hawks squandered plenty of opportunities earlier to create some space. They missed six other free throws, finishing 20-for-27 from the line.

“That man has made too many game-winners for us to say anything about that free throw,” Hawks forward Marvin Williams said of Johnson’s late-game miss. “I missed three myself. It’s just one of those nights where you play great defense and do all the things you can, but the game gets away from you.”

The Celtics pounded the Hawks inside, scoring 52 of their 88 points in the paint. And that advantage was never more pronounced than down the stretch by Garnett, who was aided by a five-minute breather early in the fourth quarter.

When he came back into the game at the 7:53 mark the Hawks were still ahead, 69-66. The Hawks pushed their lead to six, 72-66, on a Johnson 3-pointer with 6:59 to play, but Garnett scored on a short hook in the lane and a jumper, and Paul Pierce followed with a jumper of his own to tie the game at 72-72 with 5:36 to play.

The lead changed nine times the rest of the way, with the Celtics making more clutch plays than the Hawks at the finish.

“For the record, this is not a rivalry,” Garnett said after the game, which he finished with 18 points, 10 in the final seven minutes, eight rebounds and two blocks. “You have to win some games for it to be a rivalry. But they are a very good team.”

Just not as good as the Celtics on this night, when the veteran team with the championship pedigree finished a game the Hawks could not.

“We can play with anybody,” the Hawks’ Josh Smith said. “Up there [in Boston Nov. 12] was a one-point loss and now a three-point loss. We just have to keep our heads up and know that the season is not over because of this game. We just have to push on to the next one.”

BY THE NUMBERS

7-for-7: Joe Johnson’s performance at the free-throw line before missing his final one

10: Kevin Garnett’s fourth-quarter points

4: Hawks’ margin of defeat in two games vs. Celtics this season

16: Celtics’ winning streak, improving their overall record to 24-2

NEXT FOR HAWKS: VS. WARRIORS * 7:30 P.M. FRIDAY * FOX SPORTS SOUTH * 790 AM