With the first of the Eastern Conference playoff games happening on Saturday basketball fans can look for three tight games to kick off three tight series. (more)

In a battle between the sixth place Atlanta Hawks and the seventh place Boston Celtics the C’s look to build on the momentum from Wednesday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.  (more)

This week sees the Bruins and Celtics both hosting two games a piece at the Garden. (more)

Two days after playing the second of back-to-back road games the Celtics return home to host the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics, who are very much in the hunt for a home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, could leap frog over teams like Brooklyn and Chicago for the fourth playoff seed.  (more)

Hawks center Al Horford came up big in his first start in over three months, contributing 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead Atlanta past the Boston Celtics 87-86 last night at Philips Arena. Horford’s presence was crucial down the stretch, as he hit the Hawks’ final two baskets and held off Celtics PG Rajon Rondo in the closing seconds to send the series back to Boston for Game 6. (more)

The Celtics did not get off to a good start in the playoffs. In Sunday’s game, the C’s lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 83-74. (more)

Atlanta’s Al Horford provided the final attempt one second too late, allowing the New York Knicks to claim victory for the third consecutive time over the Hawks last night at Madison Square Garden. Wilson Chandler provided a huge block for the Knicks with 1.7 seconds to go before Horford came up with the rebound, only for the horn to sound and keep the score at 99-98 in favor of New York. Danilo Gallinari led the Knicks with 27 points as David Lee controlled the inside with 19 points and 13 rebounds. “He was the star of the game. He did an unbelievable job for us. He did a great job forcing Joe (Johnson) into tough shots,” said Lee of Gallinari. “Sometimes they went, but he did a good job of forcing him into them. Gallo played well on both ends for us.” Johnson ended the night with 22 points and five assists. Josh Smith scored 25 for the Hawks with a side of 10 boards. Atlanta will continue their road trip to DC to face the Washington Wizards tomorrow before returning to Phillips Arena to prepare for the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. The Knicks are scheduled to start their five-game road trip against the San Antonio Spurs tonight at 8:30 PM.

Four third quarter technical fouls in favor of the Atlanta Hawks caused for a huge swing in tempo en route to their 102-96 victory over the Boston Celtics Monday night at the TD Garden. The thousands of boos echoed the arena from displeased fans during a technical foul whistled late for Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis after stopping an easy breakaway layup. Seconds later Celtics head coach Doc Rivers reacted and was immediately ejected, followed by another T pointed in the direction of assistant Armond Hill. “That’s always on me. I don’t think I should ever get thrown out,” said Rivers. “I just hate getting techs. I’ve really worked this year at reeling myself in, because I thought we had to with the guys we have.” Joe Johnson led the Hawks to their third straight W against the Celtics with 36 points. Rajon Rondo controlled the tempo for the C’s with 25 points and seven assists. Boston seemed to be in control for most of the contest until the referees really started to give away some points.  Brian Scalabrine helped the Celtics expand their lead to 13 in the second, netting three in a row from long range before the Hawks found ways to eventually get back into the game. Kevin Garnett is now practicing and is set to return in the next 10-14 days. Rasheed Wallace is out with a sore foot but should be ready to suit up later this week. Boston Celtics tickets are available now!

Dwayne Wade produced 28 points and eight rebounds as the Miami Heat dominated the Atlanta Hawks early and often Monday night at American Airlines Arena. Miami jumped out to a 16 point lead by the end of the first quarter and never let up from there, eventually posting 92 points to Atlanta’s 75. Michael Beasley contributed behind Wade, netting 20 of his 22 total game points in the first half. “We’re far from a perfect group,” said coach Erik Spoelstra. “But this group does have a spirit and they enjoy coming to work, and even though we went through a very tough stretch … we’ve shown an ability to bounce back and have some resiliency, and it was a strong and important win.” Miami is set to host the Boston Celtics tonight at 7:30 PM as the 21-12 Hawks look to post a W tonight against the New Jersey Nets.

LeBron James came to play on his birthday with 48 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers edged out the Atlanta Hawks 106-101 last night at Quicken Loans Arena. Anderson Varejao wished his buddy a happy 25th with his first career three-pointer in the final seconds for the go-ahead dagger. “That’s a great gift,” said James. “I had Andy in the gift exchange and so he paid me back. That’s what friends are for.” Varejao collected 14 points and nine rebounds in his 33 minutes played. Mo Williams and Shaquille O’Neal scored a combined 24, respectively. The Hawks were dominating throughout the contest until Cleveland surged back to outscore them by 13 in the fourth. Joe Johnson scored 35 points for the Hawks as Mike Bibby followed up with 20. “This is a game we should’ve won,” said Johnson. “We had some unfortunate events that happened on the court and it happens. Unfortunately, we have to deal with it.” The Hawks will try to build their confidence back New Years Day against the New York Knicks. The Cavs are next set to matchup with the New Jersey Nets on Saturday.