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BOSTON, Nov. 9 (AP) -- Kevin Garnett had 27 points and 19 rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 23 and the Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks 106-83 Friday night, their third blowout win of a season in which they're off to their best start in 20 years.

The Celtics took the lead for good midway through the second quarter, stretched it to 17 points early in the third and led by between 8 and 23 the rest of the way.

Their 4-0 record is their best opening since 1987-88 when they won their first six games, finished with 52 wins and went on to the Eastern Conference finals, the last time the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish got there.

Now the Celtics have a new Big Three that is quickly leaving behind the bad memories of last season's 24-58 record, the second worst in club history.

Garnett had six assists and posted his fourth double-double of the season when he picked off his 10th rebound in the first minute of the second quarter. He had 66 in 76 games for Minnesota last season.

Boston's third star, Ray Allen, scored 14 points. Another newcomer, Eddie House, came off the bench to score 19, hitting four of five 3-pointers.

Atlanta's two wins this season were against teams that won at least 60 games last season, Dallas and Phoenix. The Hawks led 31-30 before Allen's short jumper gave Boston the lead for good and began an 11-2 run that made it 41-33 with 4:49 left in the second quarter.

The Hawks cut that to 47-39 but the Celtics finished the half with an 8-2 spurt in which Pierce had six points.

Atlanta came back again, trimming the lead to 67-59 with 2:42 left in the third quarter. But the Celtics answered by outscoring the Hawks 19-9 and taking an 86-68 lead with 8:08 remaining.

Garnett started that rally with a short turnaround jumper, House hit a 3-pointer and Garnett sank two free throws before Marvin Williams' tip drew the Hawks to 74-61 at the end of the third.

With Boston leading 79-66, Garnett sank another turnaround and Allen made a 14-footer. Josh Smith countered with a jumper for Atlanta, but House ended the run with another 3-pointer.

The Celtics resumed the sharpshooting they displayed in their 119-93 win over Denver on Wednesday night when they made 64.5 percent of their shots, their best since Nov. 24, 1993. On Friday night, they hit 61.2 percent while holding the Hawks to 42.9.

The Celtics dominated in other categories. They outrebounded the Hawks 39-29 and had 30 assists to 17 for Atlanta.

ATLANTA, Nov. 17 (AP) -- The stands were packed, and the home team made every big shot down the stretch. Could this possibly be an Atlanta Hawks game?

Josh Smith scored 22 points, rookie Al Horford led a dominant performance on the boards and the Hawks beat another 60-win team from last season, holding off Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns 105-96 on Wednesday night.

Atlanta, which hasn't made the playoffs since 1999, got back to .500 in a brutal opening stretch of games and added to its opening-night win over Dallas. Once again, the Hawks drew a sellout crowd to watch them beat a Western Conference powerhouse.

"The atmosphere here this year is incredible,'' said Marvin Williams, one of three Hawks to put up a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. "It really gives us a boost of confidence.''

Atlanta led throughout the second half, but the Suns were right there when Nash drove for a basket with 4:42 remaining. Williams responded by hitting back-to-back jumpers when left open at the top of the key.

"I guess it was my night,'' he said.

Actually, several players came up huge. Smith sealed it in the final 2 minutes, fighting hard on the offensive boards to get a couple of chances off Joe Johnson's missed jumper. The second one rolled in, and Smith was fouled by Grant Hill.

The Atlanta forward let out a yell and slapped hands hard with Acie Law, then went to the line and finished off the three-point play that gave the Hawks a 99-89 lead with 1:47 remaining.

"We feel good about our chances this year,'' Smith said. "This is the team (Phoenix) that everyone has winning the NBA title this year. To play the way we played against them shows we belong in this league.''

Horford grabbed 15 rebounds to lead four Atlanta players in double figures. Smith had 10 rebounds for a double-double and the Hawks finished with a 56-40 rebounding edge, leading to a 29-9 advantage in second-chance points. Josh Childress also had 10 rebounds to go along with 19 points.

Nash scored 34 points, but Shawn Marion, with 20, was the only other significant offensive contributor. The Suns played their third straight game without Amare Stoudemire, who sat out because of a sore knee.

"We ran into a team that's more athletic than we are,'' Nash said, a huge compliment to the Hawks.

In a strange second quarter, all the Suns' field goals came from beyond the 3-point stripe. Led by Nash, they were 6-of-13 outside the arc, 0-of-11 from in closer.

While the Hawks failed to hit any 3s in the period, they still managed to seize control. Atlanta led 55-47 at the break and zealously guarded its advantage over the final two periods, beating the Suns at their own game with plenty of hustle plays.

Phoenix was held to its fewest points in five games this season, shooting just 41 percent (35-of-86) from the field. Nash was 7-of-10 from 3-point range.

"They cleaned up everything on the glass,'' he said. "We missed a lot of shots and couldn't overcome that lack of efficiency.''

The Hawks played another close one. They opened the season at home with a 101-94 win over Dallas, then lost two straight road games at Detroit and New Jersey by a total of six points.

"We should be 4-0,'' Smith said.

But Atlanta can't complain about breaking even against a brutal opening stretch, which includes five playoff teams among the first six games. The Hawks already have beaten two teams - Dallas and Phoenix - that won more than 60 games last season.

Johnson was held to 15 points, making only 3-of-17 from the field. He offset his poor shooting by doling out 10 assists.

"Joe did a great job all night of finding the open guy,'' Williams said. "It seemed like anytime they left me open, he got me the ball.''

Nash had 11 assists, but the Hawks also swarmed around him to cause six turnovers, including a crucial one with less than a minute to go to finish off the Suns.

Notes: Longtime NBA referee Dick Bavetta is used to hearing boos, but he actually got a request for an autograph on his way back to the court for the second half. He stopped and signed. ... After Horford made a mistake at the defensive end, coach Mike Woodson called the first-round pick over for a quick lecture. "He's a rookie,'' one fan yelled. Then another, clearly a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs, chimed in, "Come on, he's from Florida.'' Woodson smiled at that one. ... Stoudemire hopes to return for Friday's game at Miami, but he's not making any promises. "I still don't want to overdo it,'' he said. "I don't want to jump out too soon.''

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.(AP) -- After a couple of injury-plagued seasons, a healthy Richard Jefferson is now carrying the New Jersey Nets.

Jefferson scored 25 points and Antoine Wright added 15 to lead the New Jersey Nets to an 87-82 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.

It marked the fourth time in as many games that Jefferson has led the Nets in scoring and stolen the spotlight from Jason Kidd and Vince Carter.

"He is playing at an All-Star level,'' Carter said of Jefferson. "He is definitely All-Star caliber and this year is no different. He is playing some of his best basketball. We're going to keep pushing him to keep playing that style and ride it out.''

Jefferson, who missed a big chunk of last season because of right ankle surgery, is averaging 25.8 points while shooting 51.6 percent from the field.

Jefferson credited much of his success to a new offensive approach that stresses more ball movement in the half court and a fewer fastbreaks.

"Our offense isn't anything different,'' Jefferson said. "Were not reinventing the wheel. Were not putting in the Princeton offense. Were just changing our style offensively. Were not scoring a ton of points, but were just executing at the right times.''

Kidd had nine points, 12 assists and nine rebounds in nearly collecting his second straight triple-double and helping New Jersey win for the third time in four games.

Carter had 12 points with another miserable shooting effort from the field (6-of-16), but he made two clutch baskets late to hold off the Hawks.

"We were right there at the end of the game,'' coach Mike Woodson said after a Hawks' rally fell just short for the second straight road game. "We had our chances, but we can't keep putting ourselves in this position.''

Josh Smith and backup forward Josh Childress had 18 points apiece to lead the Hawks, who were limited to 38 percent shooting from the field. All-Star guard Joe Johnson added 15 points and Marvin Williams had 13, all in the first half.

The Nets broke a 53-all tie and took control with a 16-4 spurt in the final 5:07 of the third quarter. Seven different players scored during the run as New Jersey limited the Hawks to one basket.

"We've had two solid defensive performances in a row,'' Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "As we know last year, our biggest disappointment was being a selective defensive team. But now, we've had three of four games where we were good defensively. We want to build an identity as a team that guards every night.''

New Jersey built the lead to 14 points early in the fourth quarter, before Smith, Childress and Johnson got the Hawks back in the game by combining for all the points in a 16-4 spurt. Smith's 3-pointer with about five minutes to play got Atlanta to within two at 77-75.

Carter then drove the baseline for a jam and Wright hit a layup after Hawks rookie Al Horford missed two free throws to push the lead to 81-75 with 4:14 to go.

The Hawks never got closer than three points the rest of the way, but the Nets couldn't put them away.

Kidd missed two free throws with 49.4 seconds to play and Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 39.3 seconds to go to cut the Nets lead to 85-82.

New Jersey then held the ball and Wright drove the left side of the lane for a layup with one second on the shot clock, giving New Jersey a five-point lead.

"I knew the clock was going down and I knew it was very low,'' said Wright. "I knew I didn't have enough time to dunk it. I just had to get it up there. I think it's just having poise.''

Johnson then missed another 3-pointer and New Jersey's Darrell Armstrong was fouled. He also missed two free throws with 4.6 seconds to play.

Notes: After making his first 25 free throws this season, Jefferson banged his first off the rim. ... G Speedy Claxton (knee), C Zaza Pachulia (knee) and C Lorenzen Wright (foot) were inactive for the third straight game for the Hawks with injuries. ... It took 82 minutes over four games but Nets F Jason Collins scored his first basket on a putback with 2:45 left in the third quarter. ... New Jersey has won 11 of the last 12 games at the Meadowlands against Atlanta. ... The Hawks were 23-of-32 from the free throw line. ... Carter has hit 18-of-55 from the field this season, or 32.7 percent.