The Philips Arena scoreboard and the standings both confirmed that the Hawks defeated the Celtics on Friday night.
Their tepid reactions in victory, however, revealed that the Hawks understood the score could not obscure a greater truth: Atlanta won the game, but the Celtics might have gained the edge.
“As far as I’m concerned Boston, whether they won the game or not, accomplished what they wanted,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said after his team’s 97-92 victory.
The Celtics (37-27) pushed the Hawks (38-25) to the final moments in spite of their willingness to sacrifice the game.
Boston was more concerned with resting its stars before the start of the Eastern Conference playoffs next weekend, most likely against the Hawks. Celtics stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce took the night off while Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo sat with injuries they might have played through if the stakes has been higher.
That means it didn’t seem to matter much to Boston that a loss would increase the Hawks’ chances to enjoy home-court advantage for that series. The Celtics were essentially signaling they don’t need it.
“They don’t want it, we’ll take it,” Hawks forward Josh Smith said. “We’ll definitely take it.”
The Hawks will get it if they finish with a better record than Boston. They can guarantee it by winning two of their final three games, all at home: Sunday against the Knicks, Tuesday against the Clippers and Thursday against the Mavericks.
Really, the only good the Hawks gained from their victory over Boston was gaining some breathing room for earning home-court advantage. Instead of seizing the chance to dominate Boston’s skeleton crew, the Hawks had to wheeze to victory.
“For us, it definitely sits a little uneasy,” Hawks guard Joe Johnson said. “I don’t feel like we brought our ‘A’ game, particularly given they had a few guys out. But we had to be professional and come out and take care of business against teams like that.”
The Knicks (33-30) got back star forward Amar’e Stoudemire from injury Friday, but suffered an ugly 98-90 loss to the Cavaliers. New York already has secured a playoff berth and is a long shot to improve its seeding, so presumably it will not be as motivated as the Hawks.
The Hawks can relieve some pressure in their quest for home-court advantage by defeating the Knicks and not needing to rely on winning both of their final two games or Boston’s continued indifference.
“Hopefully we can lock this spot down and get ready to see who we are going to play in the playoffs,” Smith said.
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