Smith, Hawks alive, well in beating Celtics

Led by high-flying Josh Smith, the Atlanta Hawks finally showed they can beat the Boston Celtics.

Good timing.

Smith scored 27 points -- and give him a perfect 10 in his own personal dunking contest -- to lead the host Hawks to a 102-93 victory Saturday night that breathed life into their longshot playoff hopes, cutting Boston's lead in the opening-round series to 2-1.

Atlanta earned its first playoff win since May 16, 1999, a Game 5 clincher over the Detroit Pistons. The Hawks were swept by New York in the next round, then spent nine long years trying to get back to the postseason.

After getting blown out twice in Boston, Smith and the Hawks seemed to take out all their frustrations on a 66-win Celtics team that finished 29 games ahead of eighth-seeded Atlanta during the regular season. When the buzzer sounded, streamers fell from the ceiling of Philips Arena as if the home team had just won a championship.

Joe Johnson added 23 points and Mike Bibby -- who riled up the Boston faithful with his comments about "fair-weather" fans -- bounced back from two dismal games by doling out 8 assists.

Kevin Garnett led Boston with 32 points, but the NBA's youngest playoff team had him kneeling over, looking totally exhausted, by the end of the game.

Magic 106, Raptors 94: Challenged by his coach to show more aggression, Jameer Nelson responded with a furious fourth quarter.

Nelson scored 12 of his 19 points in the final period, including 10 straight at one stretch, and Orlando won at Toronto to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Rashard Lewis added 27 points and 13 rebounds, and Dwight Howard added 19 points, 16 boards and 8 blocks for the third-seeded Magic, which host Game 5 of this first-round series Monday night.

Chris Bosh set a career playoff-high with 39 points and added 15 rebounds for the Raptors, while T.J. Ford had 12 points and 13 assists.