BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Celtics face a difficult matchup in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. On Wednesday, they try to avoid matching the NBA record for the longest season-ending losing streak by a playoff team when they host the Atlanta Hawks.
Boston, which will meet the top-seeded Indiana Pacers in the playoffs, has lost five straight games since a 111-106 victory over the Golden State Warriors here on April 2.
A loss for the Celtics on Wednesday will tie the record set by the 1988-89 Warriors.
On Monday, Ricky Davis scored 25 points and Jiri Welsch added 11 and seven rebounds for Boston in an 84-77 setback to the Miami Heat. Boston's best player, forward Paul Pierce, sat out Monday with a sprained right ankle.
Atlanta will miss the playoffs for the fifth straight year, but brings a three-game winning streak into Wednesday's contest.
The latest win for the Hawks was Monday's 129-107 rout of the ATlantic Division champion New Jersey Nets. Bob Sura led the Hawks with 22 points and 11 assists.
With five seconds to play, the 6-5 Sura grabbed a long outlet pass then purposely missed a lefthanded layup before collecting the rebound, which was his 10th of the game. But on Tuesday, the NBA disallowed the missed field goal attempt and rebound, preventing Sura from becoming the the first player to post three consecutive triple-doubles since Grant Hill from April 11-14, 1997.
The Hawks are trying to sweep four meetings from the Celtics for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign. On Saturday, Sura became the first player in franchise history to record consecutive triple-doubles as the Hawks cruised to a 110-99 home win over the Celtics.
