Game Six: Atlanta vs Boston

Hawks playing for their season tonight. Elimination time.

• Pierce hits an 18 footer to put Boston up 6-4.
• Rondo with a hard drive on Bibby, blows the layup, gets the offensive board, blows the layup.
• Josh Smith drives into the paint and picks up the charge. KG took the hit.
• Good atmosphere down in Atlanta. Fans are really into this, the players looked pumped too.
• Marvin Williams turns it over
• Pierce hits again. He’s 4-4 from the floor now. Boston up 10-4. Iso after Iso
• Josh Smith drives into the paint again, gets the foul to go his way this time as Perkins fouls him. He hits 1 of 2.
• Joe Johnson beats Ray and nails the 20 footer
• Josh Smith blocks Ray’s mid range runner, someone on Boston got the ball and put it back in the hoop though
• Marvin Williams with a runner. He’s looking more aggressive with each passing game
• Marvin Williams with the 18 footer on the slow break, miss
• This pace is faster than any of the Boston games. Atlanta are getting up and down quickly
• Pierce picks up a foul. Should have been a jump ball, all ball. Horford hits 1 of 2, Celtics up 12-10.
• Sam Cassell gets going with a jumper
• The Celtics are punishing Josh Smith in the low post. They’re going right at them. Kevin Garnett leading the charge and one Perk play.
• Triple team on Joe Johnson, he finds Al Horford at the free throw line for the open jumper
• Childress with a hard drive into the paint, gets the layup and the foul
• Pierce hits at the line to put Boston up 26-20
• Boston forcing long range shots on the other end, Atlanta can’t hit them
• Cassell hits another one
• Pierce on the iso with Childress, Josh backing up, leaving him the whole left side to drive by, Pierce goes left, pulls back, takes the J, misses.
• Leon Powe draws the loose ball foul on Horford going for the offensive rebound. That’s two on Horford.
• Double techs between Sam and Joe for some light pushing in the paint going for the offensive rebound as the half ends. That wasn’t really needed.  Refs keeping a tight lid on this game. Too tight.
• Boston lead 32-20. They closed that quarter very well.
• End of One
• Hawks backcourt has to get it going. They need their scoring, their perimeter play, their shot making.
• Josh Smith to the paint again, gets fouled again. hits two again
• Fastbreak, Josh Smith into the paint, jumps up, has nowhere to go, spins 180 degrees in the air, looks to pass it out, throws it out of play
• Cassell in the post, hits it
• Law dribbling along the baseline spotting the cutting Childress for a layup
• Zaza Pachulia scores over the mini post players
• Atlanta’s crowd getting loud. Timeout Doc. 9 minutes to go. Boston lead 34-26.
• Leon Powe with the strong move down in the low block over Zaza, backs him down, turns into the middle, jump hook.
• Acie Law turns it over with a sloppy drive resulting in a charge
• Leon Powe with a strong move along the baseline but he pushes off with his left arm to create the seperatoin
• Marvin Williams responds with the open 17 footer. Lead down to 6. 36-30 Boston. Seven minutes to play.
• Cassell with the turnaround over Bibby. Ball falls right to Ray Allen for the open 20 footer. He hits it
• Marvin Williams wide open from 17 feet again.
• Screen and roll between Sam and Pierce, Pierce gets the layup (miss) and the foul on Bibby after taking Bibby into the post. Foul before the shot they say.
• Garnett front rims an open 17 footer. Offensive rebound Boston. Rondo has it, has nowhere to go, nobody to pass it to, has to take it, misses a three pointer as he dribbled all the way around and under the rim and back up to the top of the key in time to take the shot against the buzzer.
• Rondo goes for the steal, doesn’t get it, Bibby penetrates, hands it off to Marvin, Marvin misses the 18 footer.
• Fastbreak Celtics, Pierce flies down the right wing, Pierce bangs into Josh Smith. Gets the call. Blocking. Bad call. Mark Jackson, Mike Breen both hate. JVG doesn’t like it either way. 39-32 after the FTs
• Joe Johnson drives into the paint, Ray Allen with the block from behind, Boston running. No loose ball on Kendrick Perkins.
• Nice feed by Bibby through traffic, great layup by Pachulia. He had two Boston defenders hanging off him jumping up trying to block the shot. Tough make.
• One-on-one KG by Zaza, gets it
• Zaza hits the mid range J over KG
• Celtics got to like their odds of winning a mano-o-mano duel between KG and Zaza right?
• Pierce on an iso, gets by Marvin, no what’s KG doing? He went over to set a screen, got in the way, Pierce turns it over on the drive. Fastbreak the other way, layup Atlanta.
• Marvin Williams picks up his second fouling Pierce on the ground as Pierce beats him in the mid post again
• Pierce with a strong sping into the middle, goes up, dishes it off when two Hawks go for the block, dunk Perkins
• Perkins blocks, Bibby still has it, nails the three from the corner
• Two FTs. Score is 43-42 Boston. Boston ball, two minutes to play
• Cassell hits the three from the corner
• Marvin Williams with the hard drive, gets fouled and blocked by KG, foul on Perk I think. Good play by Marvin. Didn’t settle for the 22 foot shot on the wing, split the two help defenders, got by and into the lane. Nice move. Three on Perkins
• Three on Zaza after a foul off the ball. KG gets both.
• Zaza gets 1 of 2 on the other end. He has 7 points and has played very well.
• Garnett in the post, shoots, block, no. Solomon Jones got it but it had hit the backboard first
• Bibby fires away, long rebound, Zaza gets it, resets the clock. Blocking foul on Cassell. Acie Law will go to the line. Celtics in the penalty. He hits both.
• 14 seconds to go in the half. Atlanta hold it, Acie Law has it, gives it up on the drive to Childress, drove baseline, got blocked, got it back, sloppy foul. He goes to the line, hits both. Boston should have gotten the turnover there. Childress was all out of control, the block bailed him out from getting a turnover, then the ball bounced right his way, then off balance he jumps at the rim spinning in the air, brick, silly foul bailed him out.
• 50-49 Boston at the half
• Halftime
• 50-49 Boston
• Some team stats – Even on the boards at 16 apiece, Boston have 7 offensive versus 5 offensive for Atlanta. Atlanta have four more assists, 14-10. Atlanta has more turnovers 7-5. Both teams are shooting 49% from the floor, Boston had six more shots hitting three, Atlanta had six more FTs hitting all six. Boston is only 1-6 from three, Atlanta 0-3. Very even game.
• Cetltics stopped moving the ball during that second quarter. Outside of getting Pierce the ball a lot they didn’t execute their offense well. KG didn’t get going. Ray was almost a non-factor offensively.
• Second half
• Garnett hits the open 20 footer to start the second half. Then picks up the foul on the other end, Josh Smith drew the foul on KG by getting him off his feet on the shot fake from 17 feet. He hits both.
• Mike Woodson gets T’d up. Ray get it.
• Rondo picks up his third running through a screen off the ball. Doc doesn’t like it.
• Bibby with the 19 footer off the dribble off the screen and roll. Miss.
• KG in the post backs it out, Ray takes the quick three, miss.
• Fastbreak Atlanta, baseball pass the length of the floor, just over Josh Smith’s outstretched hand. Turnover. He was ahead of everyone there.
• Rondo drives, loses the ball, turnover.
• Boston lead 55-51
• Joe Johnson drives, gets trapped, gives it up, KG deflects the pass, turnover. Boston fastbreak the other way, up ahead to PIerce out on the left wing, pass inside to KG, layup.
• Pierce picks up another foul
• Josh Smith air ball on the three pointer. Josh needs to take two steps inside and take that from 17 feet. There was nobody near him. He had the time to move in off the ball before the pass.
• Josh Smith blocks KG from behind two feet from the rim
• KG dumps it to Perk on the cut, layup. Lovely pass.
• Bounce pass through traffic by Marvin to Horford, fakes left, goes right huook shot
• Horford blocks Rondo’s runner, Garnett blocks Smith on the break. Smacks it out of play. He’s letting him know about it.
• Joe Johnson doubled, Horford takes the 15 footer, misses it.
• Pierce drives, step back, pivot foot slipped and dragged, turnover.
• Boston lead 59-53 with 8 minutes to play
• Josh Smith picks up his fourth, he’ll sit
• Pierce picks up another blocking foul on Marvin’s drive. That’s three.
• Timeout
• Boston lead 65-57
• Atlanta have to find some scoring. They’re struggling in the halfcourt and struggling with the traps on the screen and roll
• Some backcourt pressure by Atlanta, Rondo gets the inbounds pass, loses Bibby on the catch, sprints full court, no Atlanta defender at the top of the key, they’re on the wing, Rondo drives through the middle, Hawks collapse, Rondo fakes a pass to nobody, Hawks desert the area, wide open layup and make by Rondo. Very nice play by Rajon.
• Boston show a half court trap, get Joe Johnson in the left corner just after he crosses the line. His teammates have left him all alone, he has nobody to pass it too. 5 seconds he’s been waiting for a passing option, Bibby comes up, gets the catch, screen and roll, 18 footer good.
• Fastbreak, Bibby beats Rajon, layup
• Bibby drives through the middle of the floor, dishes to Horford for the dunk
• Pierce responds with a three pointer.
• Joe Johnson comes right back and hits a quick two pointer from 17 feet.
• Boston lead 73-67
• Rondo uses his fake pass move again, nobody buying, takes a tough layup, misses
• Bibby fouled after he loses his headband and his balance, Pierce picks up his fourth. Gets 1 of two.
• Great ball movement by Atlanta. Drive and kick by Bibby. Semi penetration, pass to Horford at the FT line, one dribble, draws the defenders, passes it to Childress for the layup
• KG hits one of the bank
• Horfrod misses the turnaround, Powe falls down, Horford grabs the offensive rebound, foul, he almost landed on Powe there. He might have landed on Powe there.
• Ray Allen with the quick jumper
• 79-72 Atlanta
• Joe Johnson on the drive, dish to Childress, layup, miss, offensive rebound Horford, miss, Zaza has it, fouled. He hits both.
• There’s a little over a minute left in the third. Big momentum shift to whomever finishes this quarter strong. If Boston execute it’ll be them.
• Rondo slowing it down, dribbles for 10 seconds, then drives through the paint, passes it off. Turnover by whoever caught the ball. Fastbreak the other way, Zaza knocked it loose from KG, Atlanta push it, lob pass to the rim, dunk Josh Childress.
• Atlanta get a quick basket. Ray beats everyone the other way and gets a wide open layup after Atlanta’s basket
• Bibby holds it for the final shot, comes off the screen and roll, shoots it from 17 feet, miss, high bounce, Childress from the left corner, sprints to the middle, taps it in.
• Fourth Quarter
• Boston lead 82-79
• Atlanta are in solid shape
• Ray Allen has really got it going (he’s killing them on screens). He’s 7-11 now for 18 points. KG has 18 too (only 6-14), Pierce 15. Pierce has done the best job of picking apart their defense.
• Horford out of control, loses the ball, dives on it, gets it to Bibby, to Marvin, drives through the middle and gets the layup
• PJ, Powe, Sam, Pierce, Posey are the lineup for Boston
• PJ misses the baseline J
• Marvin Williams on the offensive boards, puts back Bibby’s miss. Atlanta lead!
• Pierce iso top of the key, pull up over Josh Childress, hits it. Childress cannot defend Pierce. He’s backing off 3-4 feet and letting him go wherever he wants.
• PJ Brown fouls Horford. He gets the basket and the foul. Nice play by the rook. Horford catches it on the low post, turns and faces, shoulder fake, goes right to the middle, gets hacked, goes up and gets it to go. His mother is very happy, giving the two two thumbs up.
• Pierce works his into the paint, backs him down, double team, out to Posey, miss
• Bibby misses a quick three. They haven’t hit one three tonight.
• Pierce drives by Joe Johnson, finds Powe for the layup
• KG waiting to get back in
• Trap on Joe, Joe gives it up, gets it back, drives and pulls up from 16 over Pierce, rims out.
• Joe Johnson is only 3-10 tonight for 7 points. Mark Jackson thinks he’s playing as well as his 20 point fourth quarter explosion because of his excellent decision making. I wouldn’t go that far but he has played well. Boston have forced the ball out of his hands effectively yet he continues to get his teammates the ball in positions to score
• Odd scoring lines for Atlanta – Marvin has 18, 14 for Horford, 11 for Smith, 13 for Bibby, 9 for Zaza, 12 for Childress, 7 for JJ. Lot of balance so far. But the end is coming and they have to know where they’re most likely to get their baskets. Let’s see who they go to or if they fail to find out/pick out who that should be.
• Williams is hurt. He comes out. Looked like he turned his ankle, actually he was holding his knee on the fall. Childress back in.
• Posey slips the screen, gets the pass, hits the layup
• Marvin still limping and he’s heading to the locker room. Holding his left knee as he goes.
• Bibby hits their first three pointer of the night.
• Score 89-88
• Cassell takes the three, misses, Josh Smith gets the rebound out of the crowd
• Al Horford sprints the other way, sets up in the paint, seals off his man, Bibby hits him, foul. Tied at 89. Now they take the lead. There’s just under eight minutes to play.
• Garnett spins in the post, jumps up with nowhere to go, throws it away, turnover, Hawks break out, Childress down the lane, Pierce blocking foul. Atlanta will get two more at the line. Pierce has 5 fouls. Bibby did a great job of pushing the ball and finding his wing well for the layup. Josh hits the first, misses the second.
• Boston are in the penalty, Atlanta will shoot FTs the rest of the way
• Garnett misses the turning jump shot against the shot clock.
• Joe Johnson has Rondo on him, double team, Josh runs out of the post, doesn’t give it up, resets in the middle of the floor at the top of the key, Ray Allen is with him, Boston are leaving go one-on-one, JJ drives right by Ray, Ray hacks him. JJ hits two at the line. Four point lead. Timeout Celtics.
• Marvin Williams has a sprained left knee. He’s back on the bench to support his team. He won’t return. Williams had his best scoring night of the playoffs tonight.
• 93-89 Atlanta with 6:40 to play
• Rondo dominating the ball, held it til 10 seconds, deflection Josh Smith, foul. Terrible call. Smith has 5 fouls now. No way in heaven is that a foul.
• Offensive rebound, Bibby steals it from Pierce, Pierce dives on the ball, saves the possession, kicks it to Ray in the corner, Ray up fakes Childres, drives by him, takes the 17 footer along the baseline, misses.
• Mike Bibby misses the quick three, offensive rebound, Horford misses the post play, offensive rebound, save by Horford, almost a turnover, JJ saves it, Bibby has it, Atlanta miss another layup.
• Drive by KG into the middle of the lane, pass over the top to Perk, steal, turnover
• Slow break by Atlanta, Childress in the corner before the defense sets up, drives baseline, up and under in mid air, foul and the layup is good.
• Pierce picks up his 6th foul. There was a foul off the ball on the layup. There wasn’t a foul on the play, it was off the ball, Pierce is losing it, complaining, throws his headband down, tech. Doc, everyone, everyone is complaining from Boston. Pierce calm now, upset but calm, he’s on the sideline standing and watching.
• KG gathers his teammates tells them to calm down after Paul’s fouling out.
• Rondo holds onto it for 12 seconds again, drives through the middle, takes a bad shot, blows it.
• Hawks up 96-89 with 4 minutes to go, Hawks milking the clock
• Childress falls over, throws it to Horford, Horford air balls the 16 footer against pressure and against the shot clock.
• Celtics haven’t scored in 5 mintues. 10-0 run by Atlanta
• KG backs down Zaza, takes the half hook over Zaza from 7 feet and hits it. KG ends the scoring drought. Lead at 5.
• Bibby misses the three. Josh Childress on the baseline again with the offensive rebound
• Joe Johnson iso at the top of the key, blows by Posey, Posey is beat, reaches from behind, slaps it loose, turnover. Fastbreak Boston, Ray Allen one on one with Bibby and he gets the layup
• Timeout
• Hawks lead 96-93 with 2:46 to play
• Mike Bibby drives on Ray Allen, gets the call. He hits one. He’s 4-6 from the line. He has 16.
• Josh Smith comes back in for Zaza
• Hawks up four points. Two and a half play.
• Ray Allen spins off the screen and roll and pulls up for a three … no good..
• Mike Bibby on the screen and roll, Bibby puts it up, misses
• Sam Cassell gets the ball, gets it to KG, KG to Posey, Posey takes the 26 footer, offensive rebound Perk, to Ray, Ray misses an open three from the corner. Wow, Atlanta got 3-4 more shots in the paint after that Ray miss before Atlanta fouled. They were just getting every offensive rebound. Great positioning by Perkins. I haven’t liked his lack of offensive rebounding in the past but great play Big Fella.
• Perk hits both
• Two point game with a minute and a half to play
• Joe on the iso, gives it up, gets it back from Bibby, fakes the drive, pulls up from three against the two Cetlic defenders (trap to deny the drive) and hits the three at the buzzer. That’s their first three of the game. Bibby must have had his foot on the line earlier, I thought that was a three too.
• Timeout
• Atlanta up 5 with a little over a minute to play
• Bibby  cheats off of Posey, Posey hits the three
• Boston denying the pass to Joe Johnson. Mike Bibby with the dribble hand off, gets it to Joe, Joe drives it, gets into the paint, gets the tough 10 footer. Rims out. Defensive rebound Boston.
• 22 seconds to play. Timeout Boston.
• Here we go – Doc has been drawing up a play for some time there. Marvin Williams comes back in the game for Atlanta. Why? He’s injured. He’s in for Bibby, JVG thinks they want to be able to switch everything. Smart JVG, they’ll run some screens here.
• Here we go – Sam has it, Sam to Ray off the baseline curl on the screen, misses the three. Hawks rebound. Joe Johnson will go to the line. Atlanta up 2 with 10.8 seconds to play. JJ needs to hit both here.
• JJ hits both
• Timeout Boston. Doc has a play ready. He gets right into it.
• Boston inbound, Posey to inbound. KG screens, slips to the front of the rim, makes himself available, pass to KG inside, layup. 8.7 seconds remaining. Great play by Doc to lengthen this game.
• Joe Johnson needs to get the ball here. He’s their best FT shooter.
• Childress gets it in after good initial pressure. Bibby gets it. JVG wanted a bigger man on the inbounds. I didn’t see who it was that was pressuring the ball. Bibby misses the first, hits the second.
• Celtics go, Rondo up the floor, has to take a 28 footer, nobody came to collect the ball to take the three, nobody got available. Oh yeah Rondo missed the shot. Almost an air-ball, grazed the rim.
• Paul Pierce looked upset constantly while on the bench. He knows this is splipping away and that they’re not taking their chances.

We’re going to Game Seven. The most unlikely series to go to Seven is (so far) the only one to go to seven.