Atlanta, GA (My Sportsbook) - Ray Allen poured in 22 points and Glen Davis ended with 19 points and 12 rebounds, as the Boston Celtics hung on to beat the Atlanta Hawks, 99-93, at Philips Arena.

Paul Pierce added 21 points for the Celtics, who have won six straight regular season games over the Hawks. Eddie House ended with 12 points off the bench for Boston, which is tied for the second spot in the East with Orlando.

Boston, the Atlantic Division champions, was without the services of forward Kevin Garnett, who sat out with a sore right knee.

"This was a tough matchup, because Atlanta is a very physical team. I think (Glen Davis) played a great game tonight," Allen said. "You can play a great game and still make a lot of mistakes. The way Glen played tonight, to me, it was one of his best performances. He's not going to be perfect, but he's played well for us. We have to build off of games like this and continue to be solid."

Josh Smith paced Atlanta with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Joe Johnson also netted 22 points for the Hawks, who dropped to 1-2 on a four-game homestand. Mike Bibby finished with 19 points, while Al Horford grabbed 14 boards in defeat.

Atlanta currently has the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, 3 1/2 games ahead of Miami.

An Allen trey midway through the final quarter extended Boston's lead to 89-69. But the Hawks didn't back down, responding with 10 consecutive points to cut the gap to 10 points with 4:18 to play. Murray's pair of foul shots culminated the surge.

Atlanta continued to slowly chip away at the deficit in the final minutes, and Johnson's three-pointer with 1:10 remaining cut the margin to 95-91. Pierce went 4-for-4 from the line, though, during the final minute to seal the win.

"We didn't play until the five minute mark in the fourth quarter, and you cant beat a team like Boston when you don't start playing until then," Atlanta head coach Mike Woodson said.

Boston held onto a slim 28-25 edge after one quarter. The Celtics scored the final six points of the second stanza to take a 52-42 lead into the locker room.

Much like the second, Boston finished the third period strong after a back- and-forth frame. The Celtics scored nine consecutive points to end the third stanza, taking a 77-60 margin into the final 12 minutes of action.

The Hawks would fight their way back into the game, though.

Game Notes

Boston shot 47.4 percent from the field, while Atlanta hit 42.2 percent of their shots...The Celtics had a total of 22 assists, compared to 14 for the Hawks...Boston defeated Atlanta in seven games in the first round of last season's playoffs.