BOSTON — Takedowns and menacing gestures. Double technicals and flagrant fouls. And the Boston Celtics are heading to Atlanta to try to deliver the knockout punch.

Paul Pierce scored a playoff-high 22 points, and Ray Allen turned back the final Hawks' charge with three 3-pointers in a three-minute span of the third quarter last night to help Boston beat Atlanta, 110-85, for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The first five games have all gone to the home team, with Game 6 in Atlanta tomorrow.

"We still haven't won a road game, guys," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We have to do it again. We have to do it on the road now. We have to go in there and play like tonight."

Kevin Garnett scored 20 and Allen had 19 to put the Celtics within a victory of advancing to the second round. Boston got a huge lift from its bench in the second quarter, when Sam Cassell scored nine points and Leon Powe had seven with five rebounds while holding Al Horford to a pair of baskets.

"This is my time of the year," said Cassell, who was signed in March as a veteran backup for second-year point guard Rajon Rondo. "I love playoff basketball. I understand what it means. I understand what it takes to be successful during this time of year."

Joe Johnson, who scored for 35 points in Game 4 — 20 in the fourth quarter — scored 21, and Horford had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta. Mike Bibby continued to struggle in Boston, scoring six while getting one assist for the third straight road game.

A seventh game, if necessary, would be played in Boston on Sunday, an advantage the Celtics earned with their NBA-best 66-16 record in the regular season. Boston would like to avoid that and get a break from a physical series that saw another flagrant foul — when Horford took down Garnett late in the first half — and another double-technical — when Garnett and Johnson were jawing in the third.

Josh Smith and Hawks coach Mike Woodson also picked up technicals in the aftermath of Allen's takedown on Horford with three minutes left.

WIZARDS 88, CAVS 87

CLEVELAND — With only a few ticks of the clock left, Caron Butler whispered in LeBron James' ear, one last word in case the Washington Wizards' season was about to end.

"I was messing with LeBron before the play started," Butler said. "I told him, 'Miss this shot, make it interesting and let's take this thing back to D.C.' "

Seconds later, the Wizards were going home — for Game 6 tomorrow night.

Butler made a layup with 3.9 seconds left and the Wizards held their breath as James missed a layup at the horn, giving Washington a victory last night.

After Butler scored on a tough drive past James, the Cavs had one more chance, but their superstar couldn't get a banked runner to drop as the Wizards, who have had their past three seasons ended by Cleveland, pulled within 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

"He told me to miss the shot so we would go back to D.C.," said James, who 34 points, including 24 in the second half. "There it was. I thought it was going to go in. It just didn't fall."

Butler scored 32 points for the Wizards, who played without guard Gilbert Arenas, who announced before the game that his season was over because of a bothersome knee.

PLAYOFFS AT A GLANCE

ALL HAWAI'I TIMES

ALL SERIES BEST OF SEVEN; X-IF NECESSARY

EASTERN CONFERENCE

FIRST ROUND

BOSTON VS. ATLANTA

Boston leads series 3-2

Yesterday: Boston 110, Atlanta 85

Tomorrow: at Atlanta, 2 p.m.

x-Sunday: at Boston, 9:30 a.m.

DETROIT VS. PHILADELPHIA

Detroit leads series 3-2

Today: at Philadelphia, 2 p.m.

x-Saturday: at Philadelphia, TBA

ORLANDO VS. TORONTO

Orlando wins series 4-1

CLEVELAND VS. WASHINGTON

Cleveland leads series 3-2

Yesterday: Washington 88, Cleveland 87

Tomorrow: at Washington, 1 p.m.

x-Sunday: at Cleveland, 7 a.m.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

L.A. LAKERS VS. DENVER

L.A. Lakers wins series 4-0

NEW ORLEANS VS. DALLAS

New Orleans wins series 4-1

SAN ANTONIO VS. PHOENIX

San Antonio wins series 4-1

HOUSTON VS. UTAH

Utah leads series 3-2

Tomorrow: at Utah, 4:30 p.m.

x-Sunday: at Houston, TBA

WASHINGTON 23 22 24 19—88

CLEVELAND 16 27 22 22—87

WASHINGTON—Butler 11-22 6-7 32, Jamison 3-10 1-4 8, Haywood 1-6 2-2 4, Daniels 5-9 2-2 12, Stevenson 5-14 5-6 17, Songaila 2-5 2-2 6, Mason 4-8 0-0 8, Blatche 0-0 1-2 1, Young 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-76 19-25 88.

CLEVELAND—James 8-21 15-18 34, Wallace 1-1 0-2 2, Ilgauskas 8-11 3-4 19, West 4-11 3-3 12, Szczerbiak 1-6 1-1 4, Varejao 1-6 1-2 3, Smith 0-6 1-2 1, Gibson 3-8 0-0 9, Brown 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 27-75 24-32 87.

3-Point Goals—Washington 7-19 (Butler 4-8, Stevenson 2-7, Jamison 1-3, Mason 0-1), Cleveland 9-25 (Gibson 3-7, James 3-9, West 1-3, Szczerbiak 1-3, Brown 1-3). Fouled Out—Haywood. Rebounds—Washington 54 (Jamison 11), Cleveland 53 (James 10). Assists—Washington 13 (Butler 5), Cleveland 18 (West 8). Total Fouls—Washington 24, Cleveland 20. Technicals—Songaila, Stevenson, Varejao. A—20,562 (20,562).

ATLANTA 19 24 21 21— 85

BOSTON 27 31 23 29—110

ATLANTA—Williams 4-10 4-4 12, Smith 4-13 10-10 18, Horford 7-11 0-2 14, Bibby 2-8 0-0 6, Johnson 6-11 7-7 21, Childress 2-8 1-2 5, Pachulia 1-5 0-0 2, Law 1-1 3-4 5, Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Richardson 0-0 0-0 0, Stoudamire 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-69 25-29 85.

BOSTON—Pierce 10-17 2-3 22, Garnett 8-15 4-4 20, Perkins 1-1 0-0 2, Rondo 5-14 1-2 12, R.Allen 6-14 2-2 19, Powe 4-8 2-4 10, Posey 2-3 0-0 6, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Cassell 6-8 0-0 13, T.Allen 1-2 0-0 2, Davis 2-2 0-0 4, House 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 45-84 11-15 110.

3-Point Goals—Atlanta 4-13 (Johnson 2-4, Bibby 2-5, Smith 0-4), Boston 9-20 (R.Allen 5-8, Posey 2-3, Rondo 1-2, Cassell 1-3, T.Allen 0-1, Pierce 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Atlanta 39 (Horford 10), Boston 49 (Powe, Pierce 7). Assists—Atlanta 16 (Horford 5), Boston 28 (Rondo, Garnett 7). Total Fouls—Atlanta 19, Boston 22. Technicals—Johnson, Smith, Atlanta Coach Woodson, Garnett. Flagrant Fouls—Horford. A—18,624 (18,624).