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Hawks and Celtics battle at Philips Arena

Nov 22, 2010 - 4:03 PM (Sports Network) - A pair of Eastern Conference powerhouses looking to get back into the win column get together tonight in Dixie, as the Atlanta Hawks play host to the Boston Celtics at Philips Arena.

The Hawks have lost five of seven games since a 6-0 start to the season and dropped a 98-93 decision versus Dallas at home on Saturday. Joe Johnson struggled for the second straight game with 11 points and missed a potential game-tying three-pointer in the waning seconds. Johnson was 4-of-14 shooting, including 1-of-6 from downtown.

Al Horford had 20 points and 20 rebounds, while Josh Smith netted 21 points and Mike Bibby 16 for Atlanta, which shot 48.1 percent and committed 12 turnovers.

"We're putting ourselves in positions that we shouldn't be putting ourselves in," said Hawks head coach Larry Drew. "A lot of it is failure in the details. Defensively, we didn't do a good job with our execution, and it cost us some baskets."

Smith had five steals and moved passed Mavs top reserve Jason Terry for sixth place in franchise history with 590 swipes. Terry stole 588 balls with the Hawks from 1999-2004.

Boston is coming off its second consecutive loss, a 102-101 setback at the hands of the Toronto Raptors on Sunday from Air Canada Centre.

The Celtics, who suffered a home loss to Oklahoma City on Friday, got 22 points from reserve Nate Robinson and Paul Pierce missed a game-winning shot at the buzzer in a losing cause.

Pierce and Ray Allen both scored 19 points for the Celtics, who have dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season after a three-game winning streak.

"We may be the worst second quarter team in all of basketball," Pierce said. "We come out, get these leads and then we give them right away in the second quarter. We've got to do a better job and be more consistent throughout the game, quarter by quarter."

Boston did not have All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo in the lineup due to a strained hamstring. He left Friday's loss to the Kevin Durant-less Thunder and is also expected to miss tonight's game.

Atlanta won all four meetings with Boston a season ago after the Celtics swept the four-game set in 2008-09. The Celtics have lost eight of their last 13 trips to Philips Arena.