WHAT HAPPENED: The old man, and the C’s. Kevin Garnett turned back the clock to his MVP days and collected 28 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Boston Celtics past the Atlanta Hawks in a grinding Game 6. Boston got a huge break down the stretch when, holding a two-point lead with 3.1 seconds left, Marquis Daniels fouled Al Horford just as the ball was being inbounded, a foul to give for the Celtics. Had Daniels’ foul come a split-second earlier – and it looked like it was committed before the pass – Horford would have been on the line, and the Hawks would have retained possession, shooting for the win instead of the tie. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Daniels fouled Horford, who missed a free throw, sealing the outcome because Atlanta had no timeouts remaining.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN: It means the fourth-seeded Celtics are playing the eighth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the first playoff meeting between the long-time rivals in 10 years. And one of those teams will be in the conference finals. Boston will have home-court advantage, but Philadelphia took two of three during the regular season, with the home team winning each time.
WHO MADE IT HAPPEN: Garnett, at every turn. The Celtics went scoreless for almost three minutes to start the second quarter and trailed, 28-20. Garnett scored eight points in a 21-3 surge that gave Boston a 41-31 lead. In the third quarter, the Hawks closed to 53-51 – and Garnett answered with a jumper and two free throws. Early in the fourth quarter, Atlanta again inched within a bucket. Garnett made two free throws and two jumpers to rebuild the lead to 74-65. And after the Hawks rallied to take a late 79-78 lead, Garnett drained a lane turnaround over Josh Smith with 30 seconds to play.
WHO DIDN’T: The Hawks down the stretch. After putting together a 14-2 fourth-quarter run that provided a 79-76 lead with 2:23 to play – and bringing a hushed silence over TD Garden – Atlanta managed one point the rest of the way. Jeff Teague missed a lefthanded layup. Joe Johnson missed a jumper. Josh Smith settled for an awful fading jumper after Garnett’s go-ahead bucket. And Horford, with a chance to tie it, missed a free throw with 2.3 seconds to go.
WHAT’S NEXT: For Atlanta, it may be time to break up this group, which never has gotten past the conference semifinals and is pressing up against the luxury tax. Johnson’s contract is too unwieldy to be moved, so the ideal players to package would be Smith or Horford, both of whom are in their 20s and would generate plenty of interest from other teams.