Celtics avenge recent loss against Hawks in convincing win, 106-94

Jason Terry was on fire (26 points, 6 three-pointers) in the first half, giving the hometown Celtics a commanding lead as they grounded high-flyer Josh Smith, who was the major player in Boston's loss in the ATL just two games back.

But in came three-point flicker, Kyle Korver (20 points, 4 from beyond the arc), and he led the Hawks in a comeback that had the Boston crowd preparing for a panic as the 3rd quarter dwindled down, only for Paul Pierce to hit a corner 3 to send the game into the final period, momentarily calming the audience's worries. But once Atlanta had battled back, they planned to stay in contention, trying to upset the Celtics once again and repeat history from two days past.

But 24 points point from Paul Millsap, veteran point guard play by D-Fish with Rondo inexplicably on the bench, and a double-double by KG, along with 17 from the highly efficient "Truth" kept the ATL hopefuls from celebrating a steal of a victory this time around, despite commendable efforts by Al Horford (20 points, 14 rebounds), Devin Harris (22 points, 14 assists), a double-double by Zaza Pachulia (12 points, 13 rebounds and decent input by super sixth man, Lou Williams (11 points, 6 assists).

The lack of presence, or at least inability to score as well as two days ago, in J-Smoove (measly 7 points on horrid 3/16 shooting, 0/3 from three-point land) did in his Hawks. If they still had a closer in Joe Johnson, despite his critics, ATL might've come away with yet another steal against the green team, but they'll now have to wait and see if that particular closer can stifle the visiting Celtics when they trek down into Brooklyn.