ATLANTA — The Hawks were back home Thursday, feeling a lot more comfortable as they watched film and practised for nearly two hours at Philips Arena.
“We’re very confident,” said guard Joe Johnson, who is averaging 21.8 points in the series. “We’re 2-0 at home. We’ve been playing some pretty good basketball here. We’ve just got to continue that.”
But those hopeful words come with a mighty big caveat: Even if Atlanta manages to beat the heavily-favoured Celtics in Game 6 Friday night, the series would be decided in Boston.
And the Hawks haven’t come close to a Beantown upset.
“Boston has killed us three times up there. We’ve won twice here,” Johnson said. “So the home-court advantage definitely plays a big part.”
The Celtics romped to their third straight blowout at home on Wednesday night, winning Game 5 110-85 and reclaiming the upper hand in a best-of-seven series that’s already lasted longer than just about everyone expected.
Top-seeded Boston took care of two prime objectives by stifling Johnson, who got off only 11 shots after a 35-point effort in Game 4, and dominating the Hawks on the boards (39-28).
Atlanta couldn’t find anyone to pick up the slack for its leading scorer, with the other four starters and sixth man Josh Childress combining to hit just 19-of-50 (38 per cent). The Celtics, on the other hand, lit up the hoops by making nearly 54 per cent of their shots, including 9-of-20 outside the three-point arc.
“The execution was as crisp and as sound as we’ve had in a month, and the defence was terrific,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “We were trapping, smothering and we didn’t make a lot of adjustments. We just did what we should do, and we did it well.”
The Celtics made a point to get Paul Pierce more involved at the offence, and that paid off with 22 points and six assists. Kevin Garnett added 20 points to go with his usual stellar defensive work, which included three blocks. The other member of the Big Three, Ray Allen, kept getting open looks and burned the Hawks with five three-pointers.

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The teenagers who crowded into Parkside Church in Bainbridge Township on Tuesday morning were buzzing with anticipation as they filled the room, but the program of the day, “Your Life, Your Choice,” soon had the crowd stunned into silence.
The program, presented annually to local high school juniors and seniors by Geauga County law enforcement officers and educators, showcased personal stories of convicted drunk drivers, victims of alcohol-related crashes and parents who had lost a child in a crash involving a drunk driver.
The featured speaker was Hiram College junior Evan Dasilva, who survived a Burton Township crash in 2006 that killed his best friends, Grace Chamberlain and Andy Hopkins. James Cline is serving a 38-year prison sentence for causing the crash.
“I’m here because I would like to get through to the next generation of kids who are going to be partaking in alcoholic beverages to be responsible about it,” Dasilva said before his talk.
“I want them to be aware of the consequences of drinking and driving, and to not let their friends get behind the wheel when they have been drinking,” he said. “They should take precautions. It’s really as simple as that.”
During the morning, 1,500 students from Geauga County and eastern Cuyahoga County high schools saw the physical evidence of alcohol-related crashes, including the story of a young woman who was badly disfigured and a skit about a police officer’s painful duty of notifying parents their son was dead.
The audience watched intently as two men in prison uniforms were led to the stage in shackles. The inmates described how their partying led to a crash that killed innocent people on the highway, and how they never thought they would end up in prison.
One inmate described the pain he had caused his parents and how he had lost everything after the crash. He also described the overwhelming guilt he felt when his victim’s father confronted him in court.

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Police investigating a crash in the Cotswolds in which seven people died are trying to trace a tanker driver who may be an important witness.
The dark, patterned vehicle was seen in the vicinity of the accident on the A429 near Stow-on-the-Wold on Friday.
A 10-year-old boy and his nine-year-old sister, who survived the crash, remain critically ill in hospital in Bristol.
The children were in one of two cars that collided head-on as one tried to overtake another vehicle.
The driver of the other car, named locally as Jason Brain, 35, died with three other occupants in a Peugeot.
It was described by police as one of the “worst ever” collisions in the county.
Passat driver, 53-year-old John Kirby, died at the scene on Friday evening.
His wife, 61-year-old Margaret, later died in hospital, as did the couple’s 34-year-old daughter, Julie Kirby, from Stow-on-the-Wold.
Ms Kirby and her nephew and niece had been rear-seat passengers in the Passat.
Family friend, Veronica Woodford said: “I don’t think it’s sunk in, it’s going to take a long time, it’s such a dreadful shock.
“The saga goes on with the rest of the family, I’m afraid, as the two children are still in hospital.”

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NEW YORK (CNN) — It’s been a year since the parents of a severely disabled child made public their decision to submit their daughter to a hysterectomy, breast surgery and drugs to keep the girl forever small. Today, the couple tell CNN, they believe they made the right decision — one that could have a profound impact on the care of disabled children worldwide.
"The ‘Ashley treatment’ has been successful in every expected way," Ashley’s parents told CNN exclusively in a lengthy e-mail interview. "It has potential to help many others like it helped our precious daughter."
While unwavering in their belief in the treatment, Ashley’s parents continue to insist on anonymity. In the year since Ashley’s parents went public, not only did the hospital that sterilized Ashley admit it broke Washington state law, but also the doctor who treated Ashley committed suicide.
As scrutiny of the case deepens, so too does the chasm in the medical community: Is it mutilation, with doctors "playing God" — or, is stunting growth a liberating option for caregivers and the disabled children who will need constant care for the rest of their lives?
Ashley is now 10 years old and, at 4 feet 5 inches tall, has achieved her full height and weight, 63 pounds. The treatment permanently closed her growth plates and took more than a foot off her anticipated height.

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