Doc Rivers wishes for a case of selective amnesia.

Dominique Wilkins, too.

Pouya Dianat/AJC (ENLARGE)

Boston coach Doc Rivers was the Atlanta point guard the last time the Celtics met the Hawks in the playoffs. The Hawks were on the verge of knocking off the the four-time Eastern Conference champions when an unlucky bounce sent the franchise to mediocrity.

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Rivers has been in this spot before, up 3-2 in a best-of-seven Hawks-Celtics playoff series. Now, he's the Boston coach going into Game 6 Friday night.

He'd like to forget the first pass through. Then, he was the Atlanta point guard and the Hawks were one win from knocking out the four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics in the second round of the 1988 playoffs with Game 6 in the Omni.

The Hawks and Rivers were at their all-time peaks; perhaps you've seen replays for epic hoops followed.

But don't look for the video in Rivers' collection. The subject still raises bile in his throat.

Atlanta lost Game 6, 102-100, at home, and went on to lose Game 7, 118-116, in Boston.

"Oh, it still hurts. It really does," said Rivers, whose team can close out the Hawks Friday night with a win in Philips Arena. "I have yet to watch ... and I probably never will."

Rivers was an All-Star in '88, and set a playoff record with 15 assists in one half of Atlanta's Game 5 win.

He scored 32 points in Game 6. That wasn't enough, nor were 35 by former teammate Wilkins.

Game 6 ended with coach Mike Fratello calling for the ball to go to Rivers or Wilkins to force overtime, or win on a 3-pointer.

Instead, Cliff Levingston beat Boston's Larry Bird into the lane, but center Robert Parrish loomed. An awkward shot caromed harmlessly off the backboard.

Wilkins, now the Hawks' Vice President of Basketball, has seen replays.

"Sometimes you can't help but see it because they show it so much, but I don't talk about it much because we didn't win," he said. "It was a hard time for us because it was a series we should have won. Both teams played extremely well. We just didn't execute the last couple plays in Game 6.

"In Game 6, the shot by Cliff Levingston was supposed to be for myself or Doc to make a play, and to this day we don't know what happened."

Game 7 was another classic.

Wilkins scored 47 points on 19 of 33 shooting. Bird scored 20 of his 34 in the fourth quarter. Seven times, a Bird shot gave Boston the lead. Five times, Wilkins answered to tie.

On Bird's 3-pointer with 1:43 left, Boston led 113-105.

Atlanta rallied hard, although Rivers was called for goaltending on a late shot by Celtics guard Danny Ainge [now the team's general manager] and Rivers fouled out in the waning seconds.

A Johnson free throw pushed the lead to 118-115. He missed the second with five seconds left.

Wilkins rebounded and took off.

"Danny Ainge is very smart," Wilkins said Thursday. "I had a chance to shoot a three to tie it, and he grabbed me before I got to shoot. That put me at the line. I had to make one, and miss one [on purpose]."

Atlanta didn't come up with the rebound. Time ran out.

The Hawks never before, and never since, have come so close.

Memory of the greatest run in franchise history burns.

"Doc and I have never talked about it in 20 years until this series," Wilkins said. "I guess you could say we've talked about it quite a bit because the whole playoffs has been around that game. It was a tough time, man. It was a great game, but man, looking back there was no way we should have lost."

Rivers can't forget.

"I was telling someone you give away your heart to teams when you think you're going to win, and you've got a shot," he said. "When you do that you open yourself up to an amazing amount of pain, but ... you have to open your heart up, and yourself up to your teammates.

"That's the only way you can win, and that's why winning feels so good and losing hurts so much."