RealGM

Philips Arena's roof was barely stapled down the last time the Hawks hosted a playoff game.

Saturday night Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Al Horford and the rest of the Hawks tried to make sure a raucous sellout crowd of 19,725 blew the roof off the joint. They did it with a rousing 102-93 Game 3 win over Boston, the Hawks finally drawing blood in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series that was hideously one-sided before now.

"My heart was racing," Smith said afterward. "I was so excited, especially when we came out and saw how many Hawks fans were out there. We haven't been in the playoff for nine years and I wanted to give the city of Atlanta something to talk about and something to cheer about."

"He was the motor out there tonight," Marvin Williams said after finishing with 13 points and six rebounds. "Josh got us going early and we never let up. Even when the game was tied (56-56) at halftime, we knew that if we cranked it back up in the second half we had something going."

"It's a fantastic feeling," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "And it couldn't happen to a better bunch of guys. I'm so proud of this team. For this to happen for the city of Atlanta and our fans that have supported us and been with us all season, it's unbelievable."

"The Hawks beat us down the floor every time," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Give them credit. They got the offensive glass and got the loose balls. I thought we rushed ourselves offensively, which is not something you want to do in a playoff game."

The Celtics didn't go quietly, chasing the Hawks all the way into the final minute of the game, Horford's jumper with 22.2 seconds to play gave the Hawks a game-clinching 102-93 lead.

But with the crowd noise as their theme music, for once, the Hawks finished what they started.

"I haven't seen the crowd that electric since I've been here," Johnson said. "When we came out the tunnel it got our adrenaline rushing ... but we're not satisfied. We have to win our home court and we look forward to it [Monday in Game 4]."