Employee #5 Goes for 33

April 11, 2007

ATLANTA - The Celtics' young players may still be having some trouble picking up the finer points of the game, but they seem to have grasped the principles of mathematical probability.With the Bucks breathing down their necks in the race for the second-worst record in the NBA and the extra chances in the draft lottery contained therein, the C's led by as many as 13 points last night but faltered when necessary against the Hawks, losing 104-96. They now have a three-game ``lead'' on Milwaukee with five games left, including one against the Bucks on Friday.

Gerald Green, #5, went for a career-high 33 points (beating the 25 he had on two occasions), but was scoreless over the last 6:38.

``Not the prettiest game, but we got something out of it,'' said coach Doc Rivers. ``We were trying to get something out of Gerald as a go-to guy. He did some good things, (but) I thought down the stretch of the game he settled for jumpers. The lesson we told him after the game was you get to the foul line. You don't just shoot jumpers.''

The message was apparently received, as Green later reiterated Rivers' points and added, ``I've got to make something happen, man.''

After going for 15 points Saturday in Indiana, Leon Powe got his second straight career high with 19. He and Kevinn Pinkney played the entire fourth quarter, as Ryan Gomes and Kendrick Perkins remained on the bench.

Tyronn Lue had 13 of his 26 points in that frame to lead the Hawks comeback.