Third gear decisive as Hawks get routed

Since a matchup between the Celtics and Hawks was far from a compelling attraction, the home team did the 14,834 fans in attendance last night at TD Banknorth Garden a big favor. The Celtics essentially wrapped up the game in the third quarter, leaving a cast of Allan Ray, Sebastian Telfair, Leon Powe, Gerald Green, and Brian Scalabrine to put the final touches on a 109-88 victory.

The decision snapped the Celtics' two-game skid and the Hawks' four-game winning streak.

Boston outscored Atlanta, 36-19, in the decisive third, including a key 14-0 run midway through the period. Al Jefferson continued his strong performance, scoring 6 of his 23 points during the spurt, while Rajon Rondo (13 points, 10 assists) also contributed 6 points. The play of Jefferson (5 for 6) and Rondo (4 for 4) in the third was a big reason the Celtics shot 65 percent in the period even though Paul Pierce struggled (1 for 5 in the quarter) in the second of back-to-back games. The Celtics led by 27 points on a couple of occasions late in the third.

"At halftime, Paul said in the huddle before we went out, 'With defense the first four minutes, we can put them away, end their spirit,' " said coach Doc Rivers, who was pleased with the way the Celtics guarded the Hawks, holding the visitors to 38 percent shooting. "They kept playing defense and it was nice."

The Celtics and Hawks appeared evenly matched until the end of the first half. After Jefferson hit a 15-footer with 25.7 seconds remaining, Rondo knocked down a 40-footer at the buzzer. The two baskets gave Boston a 50-41 lead and secured second-half momentum. Once the third quarter started, the Celtics wasted no time taking control.

Before answering a question about his current weight, Pierce paused for a couple of seconds. Then, straining credulity, the captain claimed he gained "5 or 6 pounds" during his seven-week layoff with a stress reaction in his left foot and has returned to his playing weight. Pierce probably needs to recalibrate his scale. Anyone who has seen him in uniform recently recognizes he is far from top shape. Even Pierce acknowledges he won't return to form this season, though he said his "wind feels good."

When asked about comments Rivers made concerning his lack of lift at the end of games, Pierce said, "It's hard for me to get it at the beginning of games. Just coming back from a foot injury, that's my biggest obstacle. I probably won't get back until next year as far as my first step and being able to finish out at the rim as I was at the beginning of the season."

"It's definitely frustrating because you want to get back to the point you were before getting injured. Your mind is telling you one thing and your body is telling you another thing. It's a combination of both not being able to train the way I usually do during the course of the season and just being able to maintain strength. It's like starting all over again."

Beyond that, Pierce's left elbow has become grotesquely swollen again. From the outside, the joint looks as bad as it did before he underwent surgery to clean out the elbow last August. But neither Pierce nor Rivers was particularly concerned. Rivers attributed the swelling to recovery from the surgery plus an infection that left Pierce hospitalized in early February. Pierce did not expect to miss any time because of the elbow.

Pierce has given some thought to the fact that his physical skills will decline as he ages.

"I understand my strengths and weaknesses," he said. "Basically, it's going to come to that point where I am going to have to accept it and defer things to other players. Hopefully, the other players, especially with these young players we have, are playing better basketball. It's probably going to extend my career because of the improvement of the other guys."

Ryan Gomes, sidelined with a sprained left foot, shot around yesterday, though Rivers doesn't expect to see him in action this week and doubts the forward will travel with the team on its road trip to Dallas, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City . . . Once again, Rivers started Delonte West and Rondo in the backcourt, though it's not his favorite lineup. West continues to play both guard positions.

Rivers would like to see more physical play from Powe and criticized the rookie for not committing more fouls against the Bulls Tuesday night, when he had one in five minutes. "I obviously lost my cool with him because I don't think Leon should ever play a game and have zero fouls," said the coach. " Leon is a physical player, and it's tough to be physical with zero fouls." Rivers worried that he made his point too strongly. "We were laughing about that on the plane," said Rivers. "One of my coaches said, 'Man, Leon is going to kill someone [against Atlanta].' " Powe finished with 8 points and four fouls in 19 minutes against the Hawks . . . The Hawks were without Joe Johnson for the fifth game because of a right calf contusion . . . A fire alarm went off shortly before 11 p.m. at the Garden and security officials evacuated the building. Officials were trying to determine the cause of the alarm as of late last night.

Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com.