The Atlanta Hawks outworked the Celtics in the Gardent tonight and won the game, 97-86.
The rebounding and second chance statistics were ugly.
Atlanta had 47 rebounds to Boston's 29. 16 offensive rebounds to Boston's 6. 22 second chance points to Boston's 4.
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. Prior to this game, the Celtics were 28th in the league in rebounding.
Point the finger at Kevin Garnett (5 rebounds), Rasheed Wallace (3 rebounds) and Paul Pierce (3 rebounds). Perk (14 pts, 9 rebounds) played a decent game. But it was frustrating to watch him have his shot blocked at least 3 times.
Horrible three-point shooting (1-15) also killed the Celtics.
The Celtics tried to make a run late in the 4th. They cut a 12 point lead to 7, but three missed free throws (2 by Rondo, 1 by Pierce) and a missed open three pointer by Wallace, put an end to the rally.
Paul Pierce tweaked his knee in the third quarter. He made a quick stop in the locker room, but returned for the 4th quarter.
"It's just one of those nights, the ball has eyes and only for the dark blue shirts."- Hubie Brown.
Photos from the game (and random dancer pics) after the jump...
