Celtics hand Hawks first loss

Boston — Whoever said the sequel is never better than the original didn’t count on the Hawks and the Boston Celtics hooking up for another instant classic.

Wednesday night’s regular-season matchup didn’t have as much riding on it as any of the seven games the two teams played in a first-round playoff series last spring.

Enlarge this image

AP

Hawks forward Ronald ‘Flip’ Murray fends off Boston defenders Kendrick Perkins (center) and Kevin Garnett (right).

BY THE NUMBERS

• Box score • Standings

RELATED STORIES

• Childress heading back to Greece 
• Hawks' core excited to stay together 
• 8 biggest off-season moves -- and expectations 

       More Hawks coverage

But it had every bit the drama and intrigue and a better finish than any of the four games the Celtics won at TD Banknorth Garden in the playoffs.

Paul Pierce’s 20-footer from the wing with half of a second to play gave the Celtics a 103-102 victory in a thriller, offsetting a 3-pointer from the corner by Marvin Williams that lifted the Hawks to a 102-101 lead with 7.4 seconds to play.

It was the Hawks’ first loss in seven games this season (6-1) — and to the only team that’s beaten them in the past seven months. They lost an early 16-point lead and never could regain total control, but it was perhaps their finest showing of the season.

They were down by four points four different times in the final three minutes and still managed to come back every time, the last time on the 3-pointer by Williams.

“We did everything we wanted to do from a defensive standpoint,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “A great player made a great shot. But I applaud my guys. We never quit. We got in late [Wednesday] morning, and we came out and competed from the beginning to the end.”

The game-winning shot, over the outstretched hands of Al Horford, capped a huge night for Pierce. He led all scorers with 34 points and six rebounds. Fellow All-Stars Kevin Garnett (25 points and 12 rebounds) and Ray Allen (17 points) were the only other Celtics (8-1) players to reach double figures.

But it was all the home team needed on a night when the Hawks played shorthanded for most of the game.

“I knew it wasn’t over when Marvin hit that shot,” said Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson, who finished with a team-high 28 points and seven assists. “I knew they were going to come back and get up a good look because there was so much time on the clock. And they did that.

“Our heads aren’t down. We showed a lot of character and heart coming off a back-to-back and playing like these guys the way we played them tonight … they just made the shot at the end.”

The Hawks played all but four minutes of the first half without Horford, who carried them in their victory over Chicago on Tuesday night. He picked up two quick fouls and didn’t get off the bench again until the Hawks headed to their locker room at halftime with the game deadlocked at 51.

Coming off a career-high 27-point and season-high 17-rebound and six-block performance in the win over the Bulls, Horford simply never could get untracked against the Celtics.

He had picked up his fourth foul with 2:45 to play in the third quarter, but avoided fouling out. The Hawks, however, did have to play with limited bodies in their frontcourt rotation because of injuries to Josh Smith and Zaza Pachulia and foul trouble for everyone else in uniform.

Horford finished with five points, three rebounds and two blocks. The Hawks did get a huge scoring boost from Johnson (28 points), Mike Bibby (16 points) and Williams (14 points) in addition to big nights off the bench from both Flip Murray (14 points) and Mo Evans (13).

And it still wasn’t enough.

“It’s November,” Horford said. “but you can tell both teams are playing at playoff intensity level right now. They just got the best of us tonight.”