Boston 83, Atlanta 80

[recap] [box score]

There's no disputing that in his five years in green -- has it been that long already? -- Kevin Garnett has been a franchise-changing player. From the little things, like racing over to pick up a fallen teammate or knocking the opponent's deadball jumpers away from the rim, to the big things, like a single-minded devotion to defense and team play or an obnoxious-to-some swagger, the Celtics of this era have been heavily influenced by No. 5. Paul Pierce may be the captain and Rajon Rondo the flashy future, but these Boston teams have Garnett's mark all over them.

And yet, through nearly five seasons of big games and big moments, there have been only a handful of times where the big fella has really put the team on shoulders and carried it to victory. Part of it is because he has one of the game's best closers and one of the great deadeye shooters of all-time as teammates; Pierce and Ray Allen rightly command the ball a great deal, particularly in crunch time. But part of it is KG's personality and playing style: his endearing unselfishness, sometimes to a fault; his frustrating refusal to play a power game. Garnett is consistent as they come from 17 feet out and every night he brings an intensity that is unmatched by anyone in the league, but in terms of being a go-to offensive option, night-in and night-out, well, that's just not him.

So nights like Thursday are always fun, because they are so rare. Garnett was assertive from the game's opening minutes, gave us the breathing room that should have been enough to win the game in the second half, then hit the game-winning bucket in the final minute.

The last bucket was my favorite, and not only because it was the game-deciding points. The Hawks trapped Pierce and he got the ball to Allen in right corner with KG flashing to the middle and Brandon Bass on the strong-side baseline. Allen found KG with a great pass, and the Hawks had one defender between Garnett and Bass and another recovering off of Allen on the baseline. Watching the play develop, I was terrified that Garnett would pass up the short jumper in favor of a tricky drop-down to Bass that, at best, would have been knocked out of bounds. It's exactly the kind of pass we've seen for all these years from KG, the kind of pass we wish he wouldn't throw, but can live with because we know where it comes from. I should have known better, though, because Thursday night was different. It was KG's night, and he went up confidently and feathered it in, the last of his game-high 28 points.

Garnett was great on defense, too -- he had five blocked shots and three steals to go along with 14 rebounds -- but it was Pierce who came up with the most timely defensive play. After Garnett's go-ahead basket, the Hawks had an uninspired possession that ended in a long Josh Smith jumper that was well short -- the exact reason the Celtics have always been willing to let Smith take (and make) those shots early in games. Allen made just one of two from the line -- he's 8 for 14 in the series and I think his ankles are bothering him at the line -- and after a timeout, Atlanta got the ball to Joe Johnson, who went to work on Pierce. Pierce's knee is really affecting his play, and Johnson got by him fairly easily. Pierce didn't give up, however, and he gritted his teeth and recovered just in time to block the shot. It was fitting that on a night when Garnett made the big offensive plays, Pierce came up with the biggest one on the defensive end.

This wasn't a particularly good game for the Celtics. They came out sluggish, and I honestly think that if Atlanta hadn't been so concerned with merely surviving the first quarter, we might have been in some real trouble. The second quarter was strong, the third was alright, and about midway through the fourth it looked like we were going to put Atlanta away. But we missed some good opportunities to extend the lead when Garnett went to the bench for some rest, and had to come from behind to win.

Philly beat Chicago by the skin of their teeth Thursday night, too, so we'll be playing the Sixers in the second round. There's a quick turnaround for Game 1; it's Saturday at 8 Eastern in Boston. I'll try to get a post about the Philly series up on Friday.