12:00 - About to get started. To win tonight, the Hawks MUST get out and do well early. It's imperative. I'm telling you, people are nervous around here - if Atlanta does well early, it's just going to feed that anxiety. We are still very much the underdogs here, but if we can take the crowd out of it, that's almost half the battle.
11:19 - The Hawks win the tip and get Al Horford a decent look from the baseline, but it goes awry. It was a pretty decent shot given the Celtics suffocating D. We've got to try to get our offense going earlier in the clock tonight than we did in the first two games here.
9:39 - Mike Bibby for 3! It's 3-3 in the early going, but that was a huge shot for the Hawks, not just to get them on the board but because Bibby struggled so much here earlier in the series.
9:00 - And Joe adds a three of his own for good measure, and the Hawks lead 6-5. No matter the outcome of this game, I will say this - the Hawks are no longer scared.
8:00 - I just had a laugh - the Celtics played great D against Joe, who forced a tough shot in the paint with the clock running down, only Josh Smith was there to tip it in. The Garden crowd then collectively went, "Awwww."
7:07 - Hawks timeout, as they trail 11-8 after a couple baskets by KG. The Celtics, if we somehow figure out a way to win this series, are certainly not going to go down without a fight. KG and his legendary intensity are out in full force, but again - the Hawks do not seem rattled - at least not yet. The crowd here is still boisterous and loud when the Celtics score, but overall not the factor yet that they were the first two games.
6:00 - Marvin Williams just took Paul Pierce off the dribble for a basket to cut the lead back to 3 at 13-10. With the attention being paid to the other starters, the Hawks definitely need Marvin to have a good game tonight.
4:26 - Everyone said (cynically) that the NBA had Dick Bavetta here to officiate tonight to protect the league's interests (namely, the Celtics in the finals). Well, he just called an offensive foul on Joe Johnson, sending JJ to the bench with two. We'll see how long he stays there.
2:51 - And an offensive foul for Horford as well. I won't complain about the officiating too much though. First of all, you expect home cooking in the playoffs, but more to the point - if the Hawks lose this game, it won't be because of a few calls. It's 19-14 Boston right now and for once, I don't blame the offense. The O isn't doing exceptionally well, but the D is giving up too many lay-ups. That's going to have to get fixed before too long, because it's always going to be hard to score.
1:03 - Josh Childress drives to the basket and the refs call a block, and the crowd goes bonkers. Not to say the call was wrong per se, but they really shouldn't complain after the last two.
46.6 - Zaza Pachulia is in the game and gets called for a foul on Leon Powe. As expected, the crowd boos him lustily.
0:00 - End of the first, and it's 27-19 Celtics. The game has followed a pretty similar path to the first two in Boston, as the Hawks are struggling to score while the Celtics are red hot. Home court appears to mean more in this series than any other in the playoffs so far.
The Celtics may win this game, but I'd really like to see the Hawks get back in this and at least make them sweat. Three more quarters to make that happen.
