Boston — Forearm shivers, bumps and the occasional body block.

The Hawks saw it all Sunday, wearing down and then being worn out late by Boston.

AP (ENLARGE)

Celtics' Kevin Garnett fights off Hawks' Josh Smith on his way to the basket. Garnett had 20 points and 16 rebounds in Boston's win over the Hawks Sunday.

BY THE NUMBERS • Box score • Standings • Stats RELATED STORIES Childress heading back to Greece  Hawks' core excited to stay together  8 biggest off-season moves -- and expectations         More Hawks coverage

Make no mistake, the Hawks battled from the opening tip to the final buzzer, losing 98-88 in what could be a first-round Eastern Conference playoff preview, before a raucous sellout crowd of 18,624 at TD Banknorth Garden.

The Hawks' frontcourt tandem of Josh Smith and Al Horford worked tirelessly to combat their Celtics' counterparts. It just wasn't enough to continue the Hawks' two-game win streak.

Paul Pierce drilled the Hawks (24-33) for 30 points, 25 of those after halftime, when the Celtics cranked up the intensity by running off 57 points.

Kevin Garnett added 20 and 16 rebounds and Kendrick Perkins 11 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocks as the Celtics' frontcourt crew sent a message loud and clear that the Hawks' slim halftime lead was nothing more than a temporary setback.

"They're a physical team and a defensive-minded team that's geared for the playoffs already," said Smith, who led the Hawks with 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. "We battled them every step of the way. But with a team like that, you can't keep doing the same thing and expect it to keep working.

"They made runs in the second half and we just weren't able to keep up with them. We held them down in the first half but we let them get going at the wrong time and it cost us."

Pierce scored 11 straight points to start the third quarter, waking up the crowd and his Celtics teammates from their uncharacteristic first-half slumber.

He had 17 in the quarter and Ray Allen played the sidekick role to perfection with eight points of his own during the third.

"I just tried to play within the flow of the game," Pierce said. "You know, let the game come to me. I thought in the second half I just wanted to be a little more aggressive than I was [in the first]. I saw an opportunity and guys were finding me, setting up the screens and I took advantage of the opportunity."

The Hawks had to know this was coming when they walked off the court at halftime with a 44-41 lead. Garnett was talking to himself, angry no doubt that he'd allowed the Hawks to come into his house and outhustle and outmuscle his crew in the first 24 minutes.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said it took his team that long to adjust to dealing with the Hawks' long and athletic lineup on the defensive end, especially Smith.

"He didn't have a lot of blocks but he changed 100 shots in the first half on his own," Rivers said. "I thought there were times we were at the basket, he wasn't there, but we thought he was around. We were pump-faking and going away. And all we talked about at halftime was coming off picks, attacking the basket and going through bodies.

"We were trying to avoid bodies to avoid the shot blocker. And the way to attack a shot blocker is you go through him. And I thought we did a great job."

While the Celtics adjusted to the Hawks' defense in the second half, the Hawks couldn't regain their stride after using a 14-2 second-quarter run to take that halftime lead.

Horford finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. But Hawks captain Joe Johnson struggled, scoring just nine points on 4-for-16 shooting, going scoreless in the second on 0-for-7 shooting. Mike Bibby shot just 5-for-14 from the floor, finishing with 14 points to go along with his nine assists and four rebounds. Josh Childress was the only other Hawks player to make a dent offensively, scoring 12 points off the bench.

"When you play this team, if you're struggling to score the ball you better make [darn] sure that you are defending on the other end," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson, whose team dropped to a dreadful 7-22 on the road this season. "We didn't do that in the second half. They scored 57 points. And that's a lot of points to overcome when you're struggling to make shots."