Smith, Hawks rally past Celtics

Joe Johnson also posted 21 points while Josh Childress contributed 14 for the Hawks, who put the breaks on a three-game skid.

Delonte West scored 18 points and Kendrick Perkins had 15 points and 12 boards for the struggling Celtics, who lost their eighth straight game at home and ninth-consecutive overall.

Boston, which fell to 2-15 without the services of star forward Paul Pierce, received more bad news when Al Jefferson left the game in the fourth quarter with a mild right ankle sprain. He finished with 11 points and 10 boards.

Pierce, meanwhile, hasn’t played since December 22 with a stress reaction in his left foot.

The Celtics took advantage of Atlanta’s awful first quarter to race out to a 28-10 lead. Boston took that advantage into the third quarter before the Hawks finally came to life. After Gerald Green’s three gave the Celtics a 50-35 lead just under three minutes into the third, the Hawks, led by Johnson and Smith, ripped off an 18-4 run to pull within 57-53 on Zaza Pachulia’s layup with 4:11 remaining.

Boston pushed its lead to eight, 62-54 on West’s three-point play with 3:10 left, but Smith hit two free throws to make it 62-56 and Atlanta was able to carry the momentum into the fourth quarter.

Johnson opened the quarter with a jumper as the Hawks scored the first 10 points of the fourth to grab a 66-62 lead on another Johnson basket. Sebastian Telfair’s layup brought Boston within 68-66, but Shelden Williams, Pachulia and Smith answered with baskets to make it 74-66 with 2:35 left in the game.

Another Telfair layup brought the Celtics within 76-71 with just over a minute to play, but the Hawks converted their free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

Boston, not to be outdone by Atlanta’s first quarter, didn’t score a point in the fourth until Rajon Rondo’s free throws with 6:50 remaining. The loss dropped the Celtics to a league-worst 4-16 at home.

"We didn’t panic, even when we were down big," said Childress. "I think changing to the 2-3 zone really helped us defensively and started to frustrate them. You could kind of see it when they started to miss shots there in the second half. Our defense was great."

Things didn’t look good for Atlanta early as the Hawks missed their first eight shots. Boston, on the other hand, scored seven straight points to start the game, capped by Perkins’ dunk.

Childress converted the second of two free throws with 7:17 left in the first to finally get Atlanta on the board and after Perkins’ three-point play, Pachulia’s bank shot ended the Hawks’ field goal drought and made it 10-3 with 6:47 remaining.

Green responded with a three to spark a 9-1 Celtics run that made it 19-4 with 3:21 left in the first. West dropped in two from the charity stripe with just 31 seconds remaining as Boston led 28-10 after the opening 12 minutes.

The Hawks came close to tying a franchise-record for fewest points in a first half with 27, but Childress hit a jumper as time expired to cut Atlanta’s deficit to 44-29 at the break.

"We played great in the first half, defensively," said Boston head coach Doc Rivers. "It’s funny, one of my coaches walking out at halftime said, you know, we haven’t made a shot in the first half. We just played great defense and got the lead. In the second half we continued to not make shots."

Game Notes

Green finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for Boston...Pachulia ended with 10 points and nine boards for the Hawks...Atlanta guard Tyronn Lue also had to helped off the court in the fourth quarter.