Hawks, Crawford hold off Celtics

"I thought we played well early, but then they took over the game from there," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Right now, you have to give it to them. They are the better team."

After losing four in a row, the Hawks will take a two-game winning streak into a Saturday game at Orlando, which lost its fourth in a row Friday night. The Magic may be without guard Vince Carter, who sprained his shoulder Friday.

Trailing Orlando by a half-game, the Hawks can take over first place in the Southeast Division with a win over the Magic. The Hawks are 23-12. Boston, which played without All-Star forward Kevin Garnett (knee), is 25-9. Curiously, five of their losses have come on Friday, two of them to the Hawks.

The Hawks, who had squandered three games in a row with ineffective fourth quarters in their four-game losing streak, had no such problem Friday.

Crawford, the Hawks' stellar sixth man, stalled the Celtics' fourth-quarter comeback attempt with a highlight reel performance. After scoring four points through the first three quarters, Crawford scored the Hawks' first 10 points of the quarter and had 14 total.

His seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th points were on the 21st four-point play of his career. Against a double team, he lost control of the ball, tracked it down in the corner and without hesitation – and with about 14 seconds still on the shot clock – he chucked up a 3-pointer and got fouled by Boston center Kendrick Perkins in the process.

Said Crawford, "I knew it was good as soon as I let it go."

Said Hawks forward Josh Smith, "He hits that in practice all the time when we scrimmage against him. It's unbelievable when he does it then and it was unbelievable today."

It gave the Hawks a 78-67 lead with 7:13 to play in the game, enough of a cushion to withstand the Celtics' final rally. Boston scored the next nine points to draw within a basket, but guard Mike Bibby dropped a 3-pointer to push the lead to 81-76 with 5:04 to play. After that, Boston never got closer than four points.

Crawford delivered a game-sealing 3-pointer with 52.5 seconds left, a long bomb with the shot clock running down that made the score 88-82. After the basket, Crawford ran back upcourt, blowing out and holstering imaginary pistols.

Crawford made five of six shots in the quarter, including both 3-point attempts.

"I really can't describe it," Crawford said of his mental state in the fourth quarter. "To me, it's the greatest rush. You get lost. You get totally lost."

The game turned in the third quarter, when the Hawks scored 17 of the first 23 points of the quarter to go from a 45-39 deficit to a 56-49 lead.

For the quarter, the Hawks limited Boston to 5-of-22 shooting. Smith produced one of the plays of the night over that stretch, stuffing Perkins as he tried to dunk. Shortly after, Smith scored on an alley oop, part of another strong all-around game.

Smith finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

"That third quarter, our defense really picked up and that was the difference, I thought, in the ballgame," coach Mike Woodson said.