9:32 - The Hawks are battling - another basket by Chills and a jumper by Marvin and we've got a two-point game. The crowd, collectively, seems to be saying, "Whaaaaaaaaaaa?"

8:14 - And just as I say that, KG comes back in the game and hits a fadeaway and Tony Allen gets a putback to make it 33-27 Celtics. Salim got a pretty decent look at a 3, but it was just off. It was off the dribble though - I'd really like to see someone drive and kick it out to him, set and ready to fire.

5:35 - Is it too late for people to change their vote and make Al Horford the Rookie of the Year? He just hit a running hook over Garnett's outstretched arms that was pretty darn impressive. He followed it up with a putback on a JJ miss, and now leads the team with 8 points. Sam Cassell is in, and he just hit a big 3 to get the crowd back into it and stretch Boston's lead back to 7 at 38-31. I'm telling you though, at least so far, the Hawks are showing they have no intention of going quietly in this series.

4:04 - I officially hate Sam Cassell. He's on a personal 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 42-31, though Doc Rivers just did us a favor by taking him out (to be fair, Rajon Rondo is having a pretty good game as well). We were getting some nice baskets in transition, but Boston has done a good job putting us back in the halfcourt more in the past few minutes. Marvin just drew KG's third foul though, so hopefully we'll take advantage of his absence before the half.

3:08 - I am pretty sure I said this on the podcast this week, but if I didn't I'll say it now. I think these playoffs, no matter the result, are going to be the coming out party for Al Horford. He just got a hoop-and-the-harm on Perkins, putting him back on the bench with his 3rd foul as well. The Celts' foul trouble could be worth watching as this game goes along.

2:10 - Big Al's offensive continues to pay off, as the Celts are forced to double him down low, at which point he fires a pass back out to Joe Johnson, who gets his first clean look at a jumper all night and buries a 3. We haven't seen much inside-out offense this season, but I think it is something we'll see more and more as Horford's game continues to develop.

0:27 - Joe stick a jumper in Ray Allen's face - he is starting to heat up just a bit. It's a 9-point game right now, and if the Hawks can get a stop and keep it under double-digits at the half, I'll say they've acquitted themselves pretty well.

0:00 - The Hawks force Pierce into a turnover, and Mario West misses a jumper at the buzzer to keep the score 49-40 at the half.