The play of the Hawks in pressing the Celtics deep into this series has been a huge NBA story, but just as big if not bigger has the fan support at Philips Arena. Not to take anything away from Joe Johnson and company, but I don't know if Atlanta would have extended the series as far as it's gone (with a chance to take it further) without the lift they've been getting from the home crowd.

I fully expect the fans to have an impact tonight, and quite honestly, I think there is every reason to be confident the Hawks can send this series back to Boston.

To do that though, the Hawks will have to replicate Game 3, not Game 4. Game 4 was an amazing win, but we can't count on Joe being able to carry the team to victory the way he did so spectacularly that night. That's not a knock on Joe, who hopefully has finally proven his place in the top echelon of NBA stars with his performance in this series. If anything, it's a validation of just how hard it is to pull off what he did. The truth is, Game 4 was played much more at the Celtics style and pace - the Hawks didn't get out and run much, and scored most of their points of individual efforts as opposed to team distribution.

Game 4 was a terrific win, but it was an aberration. The Hawks are going to lose most games to the Celtics that are played with that tone and pace.

Game 3, on the other hand, was the epitome of what makes Atlanta a team to reckon with. They were streaking up and down the court, getting easy baskets in transition, and getting each other open looks for shots so often that 4 of the 5 starters ended up with 6 assists or more.

That's the Hawks team that needs to show up tonight.