BOSTON – It’s been three long years for Kevin Garnett to feel the excitement of playoff basketball once again and the Celtics big man certainly enjoyed it.

After shaking off some early foul trouble, Garnett was his usual dominant self for Boston as he contributed 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to his team’s 104-81 throttling of the Atlanta Hawks Sunday night. Garnett thrives on emotion and he clearly relished the start of the post-season.

“It felt good,” Garnett said. “I had so much emotion that I had to slow down running through the tunnel. I could hear the crowd, the building was rocking, the bleachers were shaking. I had to take a minute for myself and thank the Lord I’m back in this position. I’m going to enjoy this ride for as long as I can. Coming through that tunnel, it was a rush.”

The Celtics all enjoyed the same rush. Some pre-game pyrotechnics that accompanied the introduction of the starting five got the crowd flying high and that emotion stayed high most of the night. Several Red Sox players were in the crowd, including David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia.

“You know, it’s funny but it’s rare when you can hear the fans in the locker room when the team runs out,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Today you actually could. They were fantastic.”

Bench comes through

Early foul trouble to both Garnett and Pierce led Rivers to go to his bench sooner than he’d like. Leon Powe was the sixth man and veteran big man P.J. Brown saw early action as well. Powe continued his strong late-season play and finished with 10 points. Veteran guard Sam Cassell also had 10 and James Posey added eight points.

“We had to stretch (the bench) a little more than we wanted to,” said Rivers. “The good news is when Kevin went out, we stretched the lead a little bit. That’s good but that’s nothing we can lean on.”

After a big dunk by Powe late in the game, Garnett greeted the big forward with some power shots to his chest. Garnett said he wasn’t worried about inflicting any harm.

“Leon’s a grown man. The shots I was hitting him with he didn’t even feel,” Garnett said. “Those are like high fives to him. It just so happens that he felt them in his chest.”