April 16 (The Sports Xchange) - The Atlanta Hawks were melting down, their 19-point lead over the Boston Celtics long gone. Al Horford wasn't going down like that, though.
Horford scored 24 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and made multiple hustle plays down the stretch, allowing Atlanta to escape with a 102-101 win Saturday in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference playoffs series that is expected to be tight.
After trailing by as many as 19 in the first, Boston's Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart sparked a second-half rally. It was the second straight improbable comeback for the Celtics, who stormed back from 26 down in a win over the Miami Heat in the final game of the regular season.