Extra rest for weary far from tired topic

ATLANTA - Starters for the Celtics and Pistons believe there was good and bad in being able to rest late in the regular season because of their teams' stellar records.

Guard Chauncey Billups said Thursday that he and his fellow Detroit starters "lost our rhythm" during the homestretch of the regular season. The second-seeded Pistons needed six games to eliminate the seventh-seeded 76ers in the first round of the playoffs.

"The last three weeks of the season, [the Sixers] were playing playoff basketball," said Billups. "They were trying to get in [the playoffs] and fight for position. On the other hand, the last three weeks, our starters were playing the first [quarter] and the first half of the third [quarter], so we kind of shut it down for the last three weeks, trying to stay healthy. In doing that, we lost our rhythm. Once we finally did get it back, we didn't look back. We pretty much took over the series."

The top-seeded Celtics, meanwhile, won the first two games of their first-round series against the eighth-seeded Hawks, but lost Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta. They won Game 5 in Boston, then lost Game 6 last night in Atlanta, 103-100.

"There is a lot of truth to [what Billups said]," said Celtics guard Ray Allen. "The first two games that we played in Boston, you still felt that fatigue more than we felt it a lot during the [regular season]. When we played Game 1 and Game 2 in Boston, the intensity was higher both in the atmosphere and on the floor. When you're out there running up and down, you feel it a little more than when you haven't played that many minutes at that high intensity in a long time. You do have to adjust to it after sitting out for a while.

"The game-time situation, you can't prepare for it. You do what you can do in practice, but you still feel a little bit of that difference in the game. It does make a difference."

Regardless, Allen believes it was still best to opt for the extra rest at the end of the regular season.

"You'd rather have it this way because you figure you're going to play for two more months," he said. "You don't want to burn out or risk injury at the end of the season when every story line and everything you can lock up is locked up. You get your [starters] rested and you work on the other guys that haven't played a lot. So, I think it's a great situation to be in, but you have to really buckle down going into the playoffs."

Said Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, "I think rest is good. I don't think the rest ever hurts anybody. Obviously, I think [Billups] is speaking from a rhythm standpoint, not a chemistry standpoint. But I can understand how that can be."

Silent treatment

Paul Pierce is boycotting talking to the media until the first round of the playoffs is over, he said prior to Game 6. While Pierce didn't elaborate, his displeasure likely stems from the media coverage after he was fined $25,000 for making a hand sign interpreted as a "menacing gesture" at the end of the Game 4 loss. While there has been speculation that Pierce made a sign used by a gang, he has apologized in a statement and said he doesn't condone gang activity.

Ins and outs

Celtics coach Doc Rivers played for two Hall of Fame coaches, Pat Riley and Larry Brown. Riley recently walked away from coaching the Heat to concentrate on being team president, while Brown returned to coaching with the Bobcats. Rivers wasn't surprised by the actions of either.

"It's great for both," he said. "Pat wasn't going to do it forever and Larry wants to do it forever. [Brown] loves coaching. Talking to Larry this year, he was absolutely miserable because he couldn't coach. He was in basketball [as an executive with the 76ers], but he couldn't coach and he loves coaching. There is nothing wrong with that."

That's the tickets

A limited number of tickets for tomorrow's Game 7 will go on sale this morning at 11. There is a two-ticket limit per customer and they can be obtained by calling 1-800-4NBA-TIX or visiting celtics.com or the TD Banknorth Garden box office . . . Hawks forward Marvin Williams sprained his left knee and missed most of the fourth quarter. He was hurt early in the period when he bumped into Pierce as the Celtic was driving toward the hoop, the knee twisting awkwardly. The Hawks originally said Williams would not be able to return, but he reentered to play defense with 20 seconds left. Williams led the Hawks with 18 points . . . Celtics center Scot Pollard was scheduled to undergo surgery on his right ankle yesterday in Indianapolis. He had season-ending surgery on his left ankle March 11 . . . Barring an injury or suspension, rookie guard Gabe Pruitt isn't expected to see any playing time in the postseason. Due to lack of seats, he hasn't been able to sit on the bench for most of the playoff games, either. "It's been crazy, especially after we got the 2-0 lead and then it was tied," Pruitt said. "But that's what the playoffs are about. But I'm learning a lot." . . . Ernest Garlington, a Southington (Conn.) psychologist, was sentenced to 33 years in prison for conspiring to murder Derek Hopson, a fellow psychologist and Allen's stepfather. Garlington, 39, was convicted last year in a murder-for-hire plot against Hopson, the ex-husband of Garlington's wife. Hopson is married to Flora Allen-Hopson, Allen's mother. Hopson escaped injury when shots were fired at him in 2003 outside the Middletown clinic where he worked, where he also was beaten with a golf club less than a year earlier. Prosecutors say Garlington arranged the assaults because he thought Hopson was bothering his wife. He was sentenced yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court in Middletown, Conn. "I don't want to talk about that," Allen said before the game. Rivers doesn't believe the case has been a distraction for his star guard. "I'm not worried about that," said Rivers. "There's so many stories out there."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report; Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com.