Celtics beat back pesky Hawks, reclaim series lead

BOSTON — If they need to, the Boston Celtics could wrap up their series against the Hawks without ever winning a game in Atlanta.

Or, they could make things easier and finish off the Hawks in six.

"We just have to do it there," Celtics forward James Posey said Wednesday night after Boston beat the Hawks 110-85 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and earn the chance to clinch on Friday in Atlanta.

The first five games have all gone to the home team.

"We still haven't won a road game, guys," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We have to do it again. We have to do it on the road now. We have to go in there and play like tonight."

Paul Pierce scored a playoff-high 22 points, and Ray Allen turned back the Hawks' final charge with three 3-pointers in a 3-minute span of the third quarter in Game 5. Kevin Garnett scored 20 and Allen had 19 to put the Celtics within a victory of advancing to the second round.

In the other playoff game Wednesday night, Washington beat Cleveland 88-87 to cut the Cavaliers' series lead to 3-2.

Boston got a huge lift from its bench in the second quarter, when Sam Cassell scored nine points and Leon Powe had seven with five rebounds while holding Al Horford to a pair of baskets.

"This is my time of the year," said Cassell, who was signed in March as a veteran backup for second-year point guard Rajon Rondo. "I love playoff basketball. I understand what it means. I understand what it takes to be successful during this time of year."

Joe Johnson scored 21, and Horford had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta. Mike Bibby continued to struggle in Boston, scoring six while recording one assist for the third straight road game.

A seventh game, if necessary, would be played in Boston on Sunday, an advantage the Celtics earned with their NBA-best 66-16 record in the regular season. Boston would like to avoid that and get a break from a physical series that saw another flagrant foul — when Horford took down Garnett late in the first half — and another double-technical — when Garnett and Johnson were jawing in the third.

Josh Smith and Hawks coach Mike Woodson also picked up technicals in the aftermath's of Allen's takedown on Horford with 3 minutes left.

"I won't say we lost our composure," Johnson said. "It's tough when it feels like things aren't going your way. Temper tantrums tend to fly, and that's part of it."

The top overall seed wasn't expected to have this much trouble in the first round with an Atlanta team that went 37-45 to grab the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Game 4 featured pushing and shoving that wasn't settled until the league announced on Tuesday that there would be no more fines or suspensions.

Pierce was fined $25,000 by the NBA for a "menacing gesture" — allegedly gang-related — during Game 3. Did it affect Pierce, who scored 18 on 5-for-14 shooting hours after learning of the fine?

"It can't help," Rivers said.

Before Wednesday's game, Pierce issued a statement denying it was a gang sign. Then he went out and put his hands to a more useful purpose.

After picking up his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter, Pierce held out a dismissive arm toward Rivers as if to say: "Relax."

"I won't foul out," he mouthed.

But Rivers took him out, anyway.

And they didn't need him.

Not anymore.

"Pierce got it started for them early," Smith said. "Lately he hasn't been getting himself involved in the offense early on, and that's probably been the cause of him not doing well."

Boston led 60-43 when Atlanta scored the next 11 points to pull within six. But Garnett made a turnaround hook shot, then he passed off to Allen to set up a 3-pointer. Pierce drove for another basket and, after Horford's dunk slowed things down temporarily, Kendrick Perkins answered with a follow dunk that made it 69-56.

After a timeout, Garnett blocked Josh Childress and then Allen hit a 3. Allen threw the ball away and helped the Hawks cut the deficit to 12 points, but then he hit another 3-pointer to give Boston a 75-60 lead.

Wizards 88, Cavaliers 87

At Cleveland, Caron Butler saved Washington's season.

Butler made a layup with 3.9 seconds left and the Wizards held their breath as LeBron James missed a potential series-ending layup at the horn, giving Washington an 88-87 victory Wednesday night and adding at least one more game to this overheated NBA playoff series.

After Butler scored on a drive past James, the Cavs had one more chance but their superstar couldn't get a banked runner to drop and the Wizards headed home for Game 6 on Friday night down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

Butler scored 32 points and DeShawn Stevenson had 17 for the Wizards, who played without guard Gilbert Arenas. Agent Zero announced before the game that his season was over because of a bothersome knee. Arenas' absence figured to be the decisive blow for the Wizards, but they fought to the finish and, at least for now, prevented the Cavs from ending their season for the third straight year.

James scored 34 points — 24 in the second half — but was unable to make a final shot in traffic that would have sent the Wizards, who began talking trash weeks ago and haven't stopped, quietly into the summer. The Cavaliers led by five with 1:47 left, but Washington scored the final six points to end a five-game playoff losing streak in Cleveland.

The Cavaliers were keen on closing out the Wizards. Last year in the playoffs, Cleveland led New Jersey 3-1 and failed to put away the Nets before finally doing it on the road. The Cavs seemed to have learned their lesson and took an 87-82 lead on Delonte West's three-point play with 1:47 to go.

Butler scored on a layup sandwiched between two missed 3-pointers by Cleveland, and Antonio Daniels hit two free throws to pull the Wizards within 87-86 with 43 seconds left. Joe Smith then missed a short inside shot and Zydrunas Ilgauskas couldn't steer in a tip.

Following a timeout, the Wizards cleared the floor for Butler, who burst past James and got an arching layup that danced briefly on the rim to fall.

Washington has been beaten by so many last-second shots from Cleveland in the playoffs, and as James drove by Stevenson to the basket on the Cavs' last possession, it looked as if the Wizards were going to go down in heartbreaking fashion again.