Celtics 96, Hawks 77: Big Three Gives An Encore

What's more enjoyable than a dominating game one in your return to the playoffs? How about an encore in game two? That's what happened in Boston as it looked more like a rock concert than Game Two of the NBA Playoffs.

In the words of Jay-Z: "Can I get an Encore? Do you want more?"

Kevin Garnett picked up where he left off in Game One, slamming down another double double (19 points, 10 rebounds) while Rajon Rondo added 12 points and eight assists as the Boston Celtics took their magic number down to 14 with a 96-77 drubbing of the Atlanta Hawks.

The Celtics looked like they didn't miss a beat as they recovered from an early deficit, took control throughout the game, let the Hawks hang around for a bit, then finished the crushing they enjoyed giving—just like Game One. 

The only scare for the Celtics came when Paul Pierce left briefly with a mild back strain. But when he returned, it didn't even look like he was hurt when he grabbed 14 points to contribute to the Celtics' victory.

As for the Hawks, they had their share of "down but not out" players. Josh Smith and Marvin Williams scored 13 points each while Mike Bibby, who would've rather heard the sounds of Ludacris than the serenade of Bostonians United, added 12 points on 2-of-7 shooting.

After taking two on their home court, the Celtics now shift to the sunny, rainy South as the series moves to Atlanta. This will be sort of a surreal moment for the city of Atlanta since they haven't seen a decent playoff game since Michael Vick led the Falcons to the NFC Championship Game with a win over St. Louis.

But the other reason that this will be surreal is that this will be the first NBA Postseason game in Atlanta in nine years.

Game Three will be Saturday night and tip-off is 8 P.M. Eastern on ESPN.