Hawks shock Celtics to stay alive, Cavaliers advance in NBA playoffs

The upstart Atlanta Hawks shocked the Boston Celtics again on Friday to force an unlikely deciding game seven in their National Basketball Association Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Marvin Williams scored 18 points, Mike Bibby added 17 and Joe Johnson chipped in 15 for Atlanta - including a key three-pointer with 1:07 to play - in a 103-100 victory over the top-seeded, star-studded Celtics.

Now the Celtics must win at home to avoid becoming the second No.1 seed to lose to the eighth seed in the first round of the playoffs in a best-of-seven series.

Last season, Golden State beat then top-seeded Dallas in six games in the Western Conference playoffs.

"From day one I've told them that anything is possible in a seven-game series once you get into the playoffs," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "They believe that."

Kevin Garnett had 22 points and seven rebounds and fellow All-Star Ray Allen scored 20 for the Celtics, who were outscored 24-18 in the fourth quarter.

In Atlanta, the Hawks trailed by as many as 12 points. But they built fourth-quarter cushion with an impressive 10-0 scoring run midway through the period.

The Hawks dominated the paint in the surge as they drew four fouls against Boston including Paul Pierce's sixth with 4:44 remaining.

James Posey's 3-pointer cut the Celtics' deficit to 100-98 with 48 seconds to play.

After Johnson sank two free throws, Kevin Garnett added an easy layup and Boston again narrowed the gap to two.

Bibby's miss of one of two from the free throw line gave the Celtics a chance to force overtime.

But second-year guard Rajon Rondo misfired from to send the 20,425-strong crowd into a frenzy.

In order to win the series, the Hawks still must win a playoff game on the road - something they have failed to do in their last 10 tries.

"On the road it's been a little tough," Johnson said. "We tend to get our fate early. Game seven everybody knows it's a very significant game, and we'll come out and we'll be ready."

The Hawks' victory means the Cleveland Cavaliers will have to wait to find out who they play in the second round.

Earlier Friday in Washington, superstar LeBron James notched his third career playoff triple-double to lead the Cavaliers to a 105-88 victory over the Wizards that clinched a 4-2 victory in that series.

James scored 27 points with 13 rebounds and 13 assists as the Cavaliers eliminated the the Wizards for the third straight postseason.

"My whole game is always built around what the defense gives me," James said. "At no point during this game did I force anything. I let the game come to me.

"When they doubled me, I looked for shooters and guys knocked down shots. We needed to rebound, I got in there and mixed it up and grabbed some rebounds. When we needed some scores, I got in there and scored."

His sparkling all-around performance put the finishing touches to what had been a hostile series. He had plenty of help, however, from his supporting cast.

Wally Szczerbiak scored 26 points and Daniel Gibson added 22 for the Cavaliers, who eliminated.

In Friday's clinching win, Szczerbiak and Gibson shot a combined 10-of-19 from three-point range.

"Shots fell for me, even a couple that I thought were in-and-outers," said Szczerbiak, who shot 9-of-18 from the field, including 6-of-13 from three-point range. "My teammates have confidence in me and as a team, that's how we play.

Antawn Jamison collected 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Wizards, who played the final two games of the series without injured star Gilbert Arenas.