The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Rajon Rondo [stats] delivered what might be construed as a shot when he was asked about previous teams not facing this adversity and said, ‘I try not to look back on the past. It’s a different team this year. That’s our problem. A couple of years ago, we didn’t have the same team. We had the same main guys, but it’s still a team effort, from the first guy to the 15th guy.’ Garnett was a little more selective. ‘The words that we want to use, you guys can’t write in your column or put on this television,’ he said. ‘But we’re going to get better. We’re too prideful, too competitive as men to go another route.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘It’s just frustrating,’ said [Ray] Allen. ‘As an athlete, when you lose, sometimes it’s best to reserve your opinion. There’s things we could have done a lot better — better execution on offense and defense. We’ll watch the film and get a fresher perspective. But it’s just frustrating. You have to sit back and try to let this hurt, let it push you to be better. It’s a new challenge, a new way to deal with things,’ he said. ‘It’ll force us to be better, whatever happens. Moving forward from here, we have to know that being together is the best thing for all of us. When you sit atop the mountain, you think of all the adversity and bad things that happened to you along the way. Hopefully we can sit there some day.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “It matters that the Celtics lost four games to a team they had beaten four times last year. It means any idea of dominance in the Eastern Conference may have vanished. Teams such as the Hawks, a pack of young wolves biting at the heels of a veteran Celtics team, may not only be a possible threat, but a legitimate rival. When the Hawks took the Celtics to seven games in the first round of the 2008 playoffs, they planted a seed. The team that dealt the Celtics a 100-91 loss last night, sweeping them in a season for the first time since 1998-99 (and for the first time in a four-game series since 1995-96), had matured over the last two years.

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “‘We brought the bench in, which you had to do because of playing [Thursday night], and they go up by 11,’ said coach Doc Rivers. ‘Starters come back in the third quarter and get it back to 1, you put the bench in, and bam. So it’s tough.’ After scoring 17 points in Orlando, Rasheed Wallace went 2 for 8 from the floor, missing 4 of 5 threes, in a 6-point night. And Allen was minus-22 in his 15 minutes. ‘The bench has to be more focused,’ said [Tony] Allen. ‘We gave up two leads. To have leads like that, you have to sustain that lead or build off it. I would have to say we need to be better. That’s all. We need to be better.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘[It was a] playoff game,’ said Woodson. ‘The referees] let it go both ways. Everybody was banging and bodies were flying around. Our guys stepped up and made plays when they had to make them.’ For their part, the Celtics weren’t buying it. Boston point guard Rajon Rondo immediately dismissed the notion of a playoff atmosphere, while Kevin Garnett pointed out that opponents often treat the Celtics like defending champions, raising their own play each night based simply on Boston’s history of success. And, despite the sweep, Boston rallied around the idea that, should the two teams meet again in the postseason, the slate is wiped clean. ‘You don’t get to go to the second round [of the playoffs] when you sweep a team in the regular season,’ said Rivers. ‘You get to go to the next game.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “While the issues with Boston these days varies, those problems all stem from an overall lack of consistency. ‘We haven’t been consistent,’ Garnett said. ‘I’ve said time and time again, the label of a good team is through consistency. Not just on the offensive end, but every night on the defensive end. We are a defensive team. Whether we want to dress it up to be something else, that’s who we are. That’s what we hang our hats on. We just have to re-adjust and re-focus and get that back.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

If there’s one positive to take from tonight’s game, it’s that the Celtics won’t have to play Atlanta again the rest of the regular season.

Despite a super-efficient 35 points from Paul Pierce, Atlanta completed a dominant four-game sweep of its season series with Boston.

The devastating duo of Jamal Crawford (28 points, 6 assists) and Joe Johnson (27 points) helped Atlanta dust off the brooms and keep Boston at bay. The two Hawks seemed to hit every big shot, breaking Boston’s back again and again with timely buckets.

The Celtics, who got off to an early 9-point lead, quickly coughed up the cushion and let the Hawks dictate the pace of the game. At halftime, the young and athletic Hawks had 25 fast-break points; Boston had only 3.

Pierce led a spirited Boston comeback from a 12-point halftime deficit, but the Celtics could not ride the momentum to victory.

The Celtics were again let down by their bench, which scored only 14 points and was outscored by their Atlanta counterparts 44-14. No Celtic reserve to play more than 10 minutes had a better plus/minus than Rasheed Wallace’s -13.

Boston gets another chance to register a big win Sunday, when the Los Angeles Lakers travel to the northeast for the teams’ first meeting of the season.

Box Score

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Doc Rivers wasn't too happy last night with the officials.

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “If there is a more challenging foil in this league than the Hawks, the Celtics haven’t played it yet. And still their confidence runs amok. ‘We still feel we’re the better team’ said an exhausted Paul Pierce, who like the rest of a closing unit that included Glen Davis, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Kendrick Perkins, played the last 19 minutes without a substitution by associate coach Tom Thibodeau, who took over for Rivers. ‘The year we won the (2008) championship, we lost four times to Washington. It definitely bothered us, but we’re a better team, and it will show’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Atlanta tied the game before the end of the quarter, then pulled ahead in the fourth, making Rivers’ tantrum sting that much more. ‘I told the guys after the game, No. 1, that’s always on me,’ said Rivers. ‘I don’t think I should ever get thrown out. I don’t know when the last time I was thrown out was, actually. I don’t care how bad you think the calls are at the moment, you know, somehow you have to try to rein yourself back in. Honestly, I reacted — I was so shocked at what they were calling. I thought they were talking about whether it was a breakaway or not. The last thing I had in my mind was a flagrant. I didn’t even think that was part of the discussion. So I was so surprised by that I reacted, and I never should have.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “A livid Rivers was called for two techs, and when Hill made a comment (not an abusive one, according to those close by), he got one, as well. With three tech free throws, plus two for the foul and possession of the ball, the Hawks could have done some major damage. But after Jamal Crawford made the three technical free throws, Williams hit 1-of-2 from the line and Kendrick Perkins blocked a Crawford drive. The damage had already been done to the flow, however, according to the Celts. ‘Well I don’t know, the game is full of momentum changes and throughout the course of the game that’s what happens,’ captain Paul Pierce said. ‘I mean, we gave them momentum when we were up (10) and then we got the technical fouls and you know they cut the lead basically in half with the free throws, and it becomes a dogfight after that.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “After Rivers was ejected in the third quarter, the Celtics didn’t utilize a single sub over the final 19 minutes of the game, even as the Hawks rallied ahead. ‘I think with me getting thrown out, it kind of left our staff — it happened so quick,’ said Rivers. ‘It’s almost like Rasheed. So leaving the guys in that were playing well was probably the safe bet. I don’t know.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “That’s pretty much the turning point of this game,’’ said Allen. “Being up 10, we were playing well. You figure three techs and then the flagrant and then the ball back. That’s close to tying the ballgame back up and the momentum swings in their favor.’ Davis, who scored 13 points off the bench for a team that has been shorthanded for weeks, appreciated Rivers’s support. ‘Doc felt it was a bad call and he expressed himself,’ Davis said. ‘He watched out for his players. I’m all with him. I’m not mad at what Doc’s decision was. I just feel like it was a tough call and emotions flare.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “And if the Garden faithful didn’t know enough about Joe Johnson, they got their fill last night. He was simply brilliant in the fourth, scoring 12 points, including a back-breaking 3-point counter to Allen’s trey that gave Atlanta a 92-91 lead with 4:25 left. Johnson, who finished with 36, is a quiet assassin. The former Celtic – can you believe he was traded to Phoenix for Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers? – is one of the league’s best pure scorers and shows no emotion when he snuffs the confidence of opposing defenses. The Hawks are a young team and Johnson is only 28, but he has a veteran savvy that teammates pick up on.”

Ken Sugiura, Atlanta Journal-Constitution – “‘This team has grown,’ Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. ‘I don’t care how you cut it. We don’t have to be considered as one of the elite teams, but we’re a good team in the NBA that’s fighting for something.’ This was the Hawks’ third win over Boston in as many tries and their second in four days. After getting swept by the Celtics (26-10) in the past two seasons, the Hawks (24-13) have a chance to go 4-0 against them Jan. 29 at Philips Arena. The last time the Hawks swept a four-game season series from Boston was the 1995-96 season. It was a considerable departure from the Hawks’ 113-81 surrender to Orlando on Saturday.”

Brendan Jackson, CelticsHub – “When I drew the dubious task of recapping tonight’s Hawks game, certain thoughts came to mind.  Am I going to be recapping another awful loss typified by overall terrible play by the Celtics?  Am I going to waste my words telling a bunch of Celtics fans how much the Jamal Crawford acquisition means for this potential playoff matchup?  Am I going to be swallowing my pride, putting my allegiance to Celtics fandom aside and say the Hawks have the Celtics’ number? I can thankfully say that I won’t be doing any of those things. Never did I think I would be breaking down just how Brian Scalabrine had Josh Smith lock down.  And never did I think I would be explaining how, for a good chunk of the third quarter, I was mentally imploring the Garden crowd to raise their voices in a collective ‘Don-Na-Ghy! Don-Na-Ghy!’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Soon after getting outplayed by the Atlanta Hawks for the second time this season, the Celtics are eager to take another crack at them.

“It’s the best thing in the world,” Kendrick Perkins said about the opportunity to play the Hawks only three days after suffering Friday night’s 93-85 loss.

But if the Celtics don’t change how they played the Hawks the past two times, Perkins may not be singing the same tune after the game.
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The Atlanta Hawks, led by Jamal Crawford and his  14 fourth quarter points, held off a late rally by the Boston Celtics to win 93-85.

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