Boston — Make them call the first timeout.

That's what Hawks coach Mike Woodson told his team Sunday morning. The Hawks needed to get off to a good start against Boston in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series. If they forced the Celtics to call the first timeout, then they'd started the game exactly the way they needed. Especially as the road team and underdog in their first-round playoff series against the Celtics.

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The Hawks' Mike Bibby drives on Boston's Kevin Garnett. Bibby finished with just five points and one assist.

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Three jittery minutes and 57 frantic seconds into the game Woodson was the one to call the first timeout with the Hawks trailing six points.

By the time the game hit the four-minute mark, he had called his second timeout. This after his point guard Mike Bibby was hit with a technical foul for arguing with one of the officials and the Celtics' lead already cresting at 14 points.

If only it were as easy as Woodson had scratched it up.

That early morning strategy gave way to a mad scramble that would last the entire night for the Hawks, who left TD Banknorth Garden on the bloody-lipped side of a 104-81 blowout Game 1 loss to the mighty Celtics.

"We never played like the aggressor, like the team with nothing to lose, which is what we've been talking about since we knew this matchup was coming," Hawks reserve guard Josh Childress said. "They overwhelmed us in spurts and we just never responded as a unit."

The Hawks never did find an offensive rhythm -- Bibby was a brutal 2-for-10 from the floor and finished with just five points and one assist -- or an answer for the Celtics' suffocating half-court defense.

Rookie center Al Horford was the only Hawks starter to play well, finishing with 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor, 10 rebounds and a blocked shot in playoff debut.

The rest of the Hawks' starters shot a combined 14-for-49 from the floor in a game in which they trailed by as many as 27 points.

"I thought our guys weathered the storm early," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "The guys were anxious to start the game but that is expected. We just can't have our starters playing the way they did tonight. We will watch tape and try to clean up our offense. We need to regroup and bounce back on Wednesday."

Game 2 is set for Wednesday before the same raucous sellout crowd that kept the noise at a fever pitch for most of Sunday night.

And the Celtics, who led the NBA this season in wins and wire-to-wire intensity thanks to Kevin Garnett, didn't let up for a second.

They got quality efforts from up and down their roster. The All-Star trio of Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen did what they've done all year in leading the Celtics.

But the Hawks had the toughest time Sunday trying to contain second-year Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who put on a point guard clinic in the third quarter as the Cetlics broke open what was a reasonably competitive game for much of the second quarter.

Rondo's fade away jumper over Horford with 10.9 seconds to play in third quarter was the final dagger, giving the Celtics a 73-55.

Rondo finished his night and his matchup with Bibby with 15 points (on 5-for-9 shooting), nine assists, six rebounds, two steals and no turnovers. His only real blemish of the night being an air-balled jumper.

It was his first playoff game and Bibby's 52nd.

"He puts pressure on you with his speed," Woodson said. "We were trying to match a bigger guy on Rondo. But he made some shots. And we have to live with that. As long as Ray and Paul aren't sticking the dagger in you, you have to live with Rondo making shots."

That's fine with the Celtics, who don't care much how they get past the Hawks.

"My teammates have been telling me all year to keep shooting the ball," Rondo said. "The air ball actually felt good. The next two possessions they gave me the shot again and I took them."

Just like the Hawks.