HAWKS 97, CELTICS 92: Joe Johnson led the way with 30 points and Josh Smith had a big game as host Atlanta moved closer to home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Smith finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks, who moved 1½ games ahead of the Celtics. Despite being the No. 5 seed, Atlanta would host the first game of the playoffs against Boston by virtue of the better record.

Boston rested all of its key players, leaving Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus at home and sitting Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Avery Bradley took over the scoring load for Boston and had a career-high 28 points on 12-of-22 shooting.

The Hawks led by as much as 12 in the third quarter and were up 11 when the Celtics made a move, ripping off a 10-0 burst to pull within a point. But Smith’s jumper made it a three-point edge heading into the fourth quarter and Atlanta refused to relinquish the lead.

Boston was within a basket of tying or taking the lead seven times in the fourth quarter but never managed to get on top. Atlanta finally began to pull away with 1:55 left, when Johnson converted a three-point play, blocked a shot at the other end and hit two free throws to stretch it to 92-86 with 1:29 to play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Celtics officially signed C Sean Williams on Friday. He went scoreless in just over three minutes. … Atlanta committed 18 turnovers.