Al Horford was hoping to carry on where he left off in the previous game in only his second game back. He did score 17 points and crucially had a chance to tie the game with his free throws but he couldn’t make them. In the end the talking point was Kevin Garnett who turned back the clock to score 28 points and 14 rebounds to give the Celtics their victory.

Kevin Garnett had this to say on the Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon who called him the dirtiest player in the league: “First off I want to say thank you to the [Atlanta] owner for giving me some extra gas tonight. My only advice to him is next time he opens his mouth, actually know what he’s talking about — Xs and Os versus checkbooks and bottom lines.”

Paul Pierce on his sides form: “We’re playing like this is it. This could be out last chance together, so we’re going to give it one last run and then see what happens.”