The Captain and the Cs earned a relatively painless 104-92 home win over the Hawks Friday night, and secured their first undefeated week in over two months.

Al drives to the hoop past Atlanta's Al Horford (Getty Images).

Paul, who had a game-high 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists, was one of five Celtics’ players to score in double figures and one of four players with at least four assists. The Truth was able to take it easy, playing only 31 minutes.

The Truth and the Cs led 52-48 at halftime, but started to pull away at the end of the third quarter behind six points from Rajon Rondo. Paul put up six points and Eddie House added five points to stretch the lead at the beginning of the fourth. With 3:52 remaining, the Cs led by as many as 20 points.

"Right now, we're building on just playing good basketball going into the playoffs," Paul said to The Boston Globe. "We started off not really rebounding the ball, but I thought we defended well the whole night, and that's going to be the key. That's our focus night in and night out, is the way we defend."

No. 34 and the Celtics won the season series 4-0 against the Hawks. Paul said the win couldn't have come at a better time.

"You don't want to be coming off a loss at home, sitting for four days, playoffs around the corner," he said to NBA.com. "It's our fourth game in a row that we won, we want to be playing well going into the playoffs and it's good to get a quality win tonight."

RARE IN-SEASON BREAK
The Truth and Boston were one of the busiest NBA squads before the All-Star break, playing 55 games in 108 days. The team now has a lighter load and four-day rest before their next game.

“A lot of teams have eight, nine games left where we only have five,’’ Paul said to The Patriot Ledger. “To have four days off at this point in the season is great for us, especially with all the home games we have left.’’

Coach Doc Rivers gave the Captain and the Cs even more time to rest by calling off practice for the weekend, giving his players a much needed break.

"At this point in my career, I just try to use the rest," Paul, who is the only Celtic to play in all 77 games, said to The Boston Globe. "I'll just take two days off. I think my body needs it. That's just growing as a player, getting older, getting smarter and understanding that, hey, we still feel like it's a long season, potentially two more months to play, so it's important to get our rest right now."

The team will practice Monday and Tuesday, but without KG, who’s still resting a sore right knee.

Boston has five games left in the season before the playoffs begin April 18. The Cs remain in the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRIANNA LEE PIERCE!
With the time off, Paul stayed away from the team’s training facility on Saturday and celebrated his daughter’s birthday.

"It's great I get to stay home, spend some time with my daughter - she turns 1," he said to The Boston Globe.

Paul even sent out a special birthday message to his daughter on Twitter over the weekend:

“Having big party today. My daughter Prianna Lee Pierce turns 1 today. Happy birthday a.k.a. lil poopies lol.”

NEXT UP
No. 34 and the Cs take on the Nets at home. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 PM Eastern Time.

RELATED STORIES
Hawks’ upset bid doesn’t fly (The Boston Globe, Apr 4, 2009)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/04/04/hawk...
Celtics add to Hawks’ road woes, win 104-92 (NBA.com, Apr 3, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090403/ATLBOS/recap.html
Spring break for the Celtics (The Boston Globe, Apr 5, 2009)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/04/05/spri...
 

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