Celtics eliminate Hawks

Kendrick Perkins, right, rejects Joe Johnson [AFP]

Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Ricky Pierce scored 22 points as the Boston Celtics repelled the pesky Atlanta Hawks with a 99-65 victory in Game 7 of their playoff series, earning a second-round matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Round 2 begins Tuesday night, and the Boston fans are ready.

“We want Cleveland!” they yelled as the Celtics bench nursed the game to
its conclusion.

Rajon Rondo, who missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the Game 6 loss that forced the series back to Boston, had 10 points and six assists, taking his lumps in the game’s pivotal play.

Kendrick Perkins had 10 points and 10 rebounds before joining the rest of the starters on the bench in the formality of a fourth quarter, just as they did for much of the regular season.

Boston went 66-16 for the league’s best record, 29 games better than the young Hawks team that earned the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Although the upstarts put up little fight on the road, they won all three games in Atlanta by pushing back against Boston’s Big Three of Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen.

Tempers flare

The skirmishes of the first six games boiled over with 9:09 left in the third quarter, with Boston already leading 51-28, when Rondo got the ball on a breakaway in the third quarter and had only Marvin Williams to beat.

The Hawks forward put an arm across his chest and took Rondo to the floor, where he lay for a few minutes while Celtics coaches and teammates checked on
him.

The officials immediately signaled a Flagrant 2 foul and, after reviewing the play, threw Williams out of the game.

Kevin Garnett slams it with authority [AFP]

The crowd was energized, and the Celtics were angry.

Rondo hit both free throws, the Celtics got the ball and Allen, who hadn’t made a basket since the first quarter, drained a 3-pointer to make it a 28-point game.

Then it was showtime.

The Celtics brought out some fakes and behind-the-back passes straight out of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Rondo found Garnett underneath for an emphatic dunk with 3:05 left in the third.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who earned his first playoff series coaching victory, took Garnett out of the game; he wasn’t needed.

With 10:44 left in the game, Pierce and Rondo joined him on the bench.

Pierce was the only Celtics starter to play more than 30 minutes.

Sub Leon Powe was the third-leading scorer, with 12 points and four rebounds in 20
minutes.

Lakers 109, Jazz 98

In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant, celebrating what is expected to be his first NBA MVP award, had 38 points, six rebounds and seven assists, and Los Angeles made it five straight playoff wins by beating Utah to begin the second round.

Game 2 will be played Wednesday night before the best-of-seven series shifts to Utah for Games 3 and 4.

Word leaked late Friday that Bryant had won his first Most Valuable Player award and he expressed his joy on Saturday.

The NBA has declined comment, but Bryant is expected to receive the MVP
trophy from commissioner David Stern before Game 2.

Pau Gasol added 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Lamar Odom had 16 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with 45 seconds to play, and Sasha Vujacic scored 15 for the Lakers.

Mehmet Okur had 21 points and a career playoff-high 19 rebounds for the Jazz, who lost despite outrebounding the Lakers 58-41.

Carlos Boozer had 15 points, 14 rebounds and four assists before fouling out with 3:28 left, and Deron Williams added 14 points, nine assists and nine rebounds.