Other Bloggers React

Jim - Green Bandwagon: "Joe Johnson was begging someone to play the Larry Bird to his Dominique Wilkins. And nobody did. There were several possessions were Boston needed a bucket to crush some momentum and keep the crowd out of it. To be fair Ray Allen’s three pointer around the 9:00 mark, which made it 78-72 was that type of shot. But they needed many more. Paul Pierce couldn’t hit a bucket to set up a and one situation just inside 8 minutes and then went 1-2 from the line."

FLCeltsFan - LOY's Place: "The best defensive team in the league simply didn't play defense. They allowed the Hawks to shoot 48% while shooting just 41% themselves. They constantly settled for jumpers even though the jumpers weren't falling. They didn't attack the basket and weren't aggressive going after rebounds, allowing the Hawks to out rebound them for the second game in a row. I have to feel that much of this loss has to be on the coaches. Doc should have demanded that they stop shooting jumpers and take the ball to the hoop. Doc's rotations and substitutions are also somewhat questionable."

ManchvegasBob - Celtics 17: "Joe Johnson, Joe Johnson, Joe Johnson  There.  The title says it all.  The player of the game stunned the Celtics, with the Hawks winning 97-92.  Johnson was great.  Period.  He scored 35 points, 20 in the 4th quarter.  We have a new clutch player stepping up on to the NBA scene." 

Shirley Coshatt - Full Court Press:  "In fact, the non-call on Josh Smith’s body bump on Rajon Rondo’s breakaway layup could be viewed as the turning point of the first quarter. The play was essentially a four point swing because the Hawks quickly converted on the subsequent five-on-four mismatch with Rondo still knocked to the floor. The play also fired up a tame crowd and the game immediaately took a different tone afterwards. All of that said, the officials didn’t lose this game for the Celtics, who once again failed in their team defense in three of the four quarters."

Chuck McKenny - Red's Army:  "After all the taunting and excessive celebration following Game 3, nearly everyone expected the Celtics to ****-slap Atlanta tonight. But everytime the Celtics made a run (1st and 3rd quarters), the Hawks responded with a run of their own. It was downright embarassing. All the talk about Paul Pierce making Al Horford pay for the taunt? He shot 5-14 FG (4-8 FT) which included one crucial missed lay-up late in the fourth. The Celtics are in serious danger of blowing this series."