10:24 - The offense starts out the second half pretty stagnant, as the Celtics force a 24-second violation. We need to try to go inside out again, running the offense more through Horford to get some open looks. Bibby hasn't had a shot in what seems like forever.

9:29 - Good ball movement by the Hawks gets Marvin an open look, and they force a turnover in the backcourt and get a Bibby 3 to cut it back to 12. More of that! Yeah!

8:39 - Joe Johnson hits a pair at the line after another Celtics turnover. While he is at the line, a Celtics heckler yells at him: "Joe Johnson, you have a boring name!" I give him points for humor.

7:29 - It's 60-50, but it feels like it should be closer. The last two possessions have not been crisp for the Hawks, who can't afford not to take advantage of every opportunity. They messed up a bit of a fastbreak, and then again failed to corral an obtainable offensive rebound which resulted in the Celtics stealing it back for a fresh possession. They didn't score, but it's symptomatic. On the road, you can't make small mistakes like that, because the margin of error is so much slimmer. Still, it's 60-50, and the Hawks are as close as they've been in a while.

6:20 - The Celtics are not crisp right now either, and the Hawks are finally taking advantage. A Horford jumper reduces the deficit to six, 60-54.

5:00 - And just like that, Ray Allen hits a three to push it back to 11, 65-54. This will not be easy.

3:30 - That one hurt. A forced 22-footer by Horford as the shot clock expired, and then Ray hits another 3 on the other end. It's 72-56 now, the largest lead of the game for the Celts.

3:14 - And we're playing the feud again. Rajon Rondo pushes Joe Johnson, who (understandably) takes exception. They both get techs (though I may be wrong, it appears they have called the tech on Garnett, who doesn't seem real happy about it), but nothing escalates any further. What an intense series this has turned out to be.

2:30 - Frankly, when Ray Allen is hitting like this, it's pretty hard to win. He's got 3 3's in this quarter alone, and looks like he could hit anything from anywhere right now.

29.5 - I'm going to complain about the officiating now, but not how you may think. Paul Pierce just went barreling into the lane, where Al Horford, standing completely still, got called for a foul. I don't agree with that call, but it's more on the macro level than the one just called now. I hate it that players get rewarded for blindly careening into the post. I don't like it when the Hawks get away with it, and I don't like it when other teams get away with it. It's just not basketball. Ok, I'm off my soapbox now.

0:00 - I gotta tell ya - the Hawks played really, really well in that quarter, and yet the Celtics lead increased from halftime by two to lead 81-64 at the end of three. You just have to tip your hat to Boston right now, who has hit three-pointer after three-pointer to quell every Atlanta attempt to get back in the game. There really isn't much you can do about it other than continue to play hard.