Is home-court really this valuable?

No need to panic after all, the Boston Celtics stopped the two-game skid and once again blew out the Hawks at the Garden.

Last night, the Celtics beat the Hawks, 110-85 in game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals to take a 3-2 series lead.

How can you explain the bizarro Celtics? They look unbeatable at home then lose two straight in Atlanta.

Paul Pierce took time away from his busy schedule of throwing various gang signs to score a game-high 22 points, grab seven rebounds and dishing out six assists. Kevin Garnett filled out the stat sheet with 20 points, seven assists, five boards and three steals. Ray Allen scored 19 points.

The biggest difference (besides the defense) for Boston from games 3 and 4 was the bench contributions. Sam Cassell scored 13 points and crowd favorite Leon Powe had 10 points and seven rebounds. James Posey had six points (2 timely threes) and five rebounds. In all, the Boston subs had 35 points.

Atlanta was back to their two-pronged attack. Joe Johnson had 21 points, Josh Smith had 18 and Al Horford had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Marvin Williams added 12 points.

Oh and whither Mike Bibby you ask? He continued his fine road-work with six points and one assist on 2 of 8 shooting.

Boston led 27-19 after the first and 58-43 at the half. The Hawks cut it to six in the third quarter but the C's stepped on the gas and put Atlanta away.

For the game, Boston shot 53.6% from the floor to Atlanta's 40.6%. The C's had nine 3-pointers and are shooting a blistering 46% in the playoffs. The Hawks had a distinct advantage at the free throw line (25-11 made) but the C's owned the glass (39-28) and looked for the extra pass (28-16).

Game 6 is tomorrow night at Philips Arena. You can be sure Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz, Bad News Kennelz (well those that aren't locked down anyway), the Ying Yang Twins and countless other wannabes will be out in full force. It's time for the Celts to say goodbye to the Hawks.