Paul Pierce of the Celtics, going up for a layup during the first half, scored 16 points against the Hawks in the first-round series opener last night.

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The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

BOSTON — After watching the rest of the NBA playoffs unfold with a run of upsets and close calls, the Boston Celtics hoped to deliver a message in Game One of their series with the Atlanta Hawks last night. Mission accomplished.

The Celts jumped on the youthful Hawks early, fought off a nice comeback and then pulled away for a dominating 104-81 victory in front of a festive playoff crowd of 18,624 at TD Banknorth Garden.

“We wanted to establish ourselves with the first win and let them go home and think about it,” said Rajon Rondo, the second-year point guard who is emerging as a major star. Rondo epitomized the theme of the night. Playing in his first playoff game and matching up against established veteran Mike Bibby, Rondo produced an eye-popping effort. He scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds and passed for nine assists in clearly out-playing Bibby, who finished with only five points on 2-of-10 shooting.

While other Hawks played better than Bibby, especially rookie-of-the-year candidate Al Horford (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Joe Johnson (19 points), the Celtics clearly had too much for Atlanta’s young team. Boston’s defense limited the Hawks to 38-percent shooting, causing coach Mike Woodson to say, “four of our starters shot 4-for-49. Give the Celtics credit on that, but they haven’t shot that bad all season.”

Ray Allen led six Celtics in double figures as he poured in 12 of his team-high 18 points in the decisive third quarter. Kevin Garnett (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Paul Pierce (16 points) looked strong as well, but the play of Rondo and several bench players never let the Hawks in the game in the second half.

Boston started quickly with an 11-2 run to open the game as Pierce canned two deep 3-pointers. The Hawks appeared very shaky early (3-for-11 shooting) and that lasted until the five-minute mark of the quarter as Boston built a 24-10 lead. Rondo was the catalyst as he sliced inside for an offensive rebound hoop, swished a 16-footer and tricky-dribbled down the lane for a bucket.

Down 26-13, the Hawks suddenly regrouped. Eight unanswered points cut Boston’s lead to 26-21 and the Hawks also drew a second foul from Garnett that sent the big man to the bench. Three Rondo free throws closed out the first-quarter scoring with the Celtics up, 29-21.

Atlanta began the second quarter on fire. Josh Childress scored on an easy offensive rebound basket and a power drive to the hole and, when Marvin Williams swished a corner jump shot, the Hawks were only down by two, 29-27.

Williams’ shot capped off a 14-3 run and at that point both Garnett and Pierce were on the bench with two fouls each. Once Garnett returned to the lineup, he helped restore order and the Celtics coasted into halftime with a 49-40 lead.

Celtics’ coach Doc Rivers said he wasn’t happy with slight letdowns at the end of the first and second quarters and let his team know about it.

“That allowed them to stay in the game,” he said. “If you have a chance to put a team away, you have to do it, especially in the playoffs. We didn’t do it, and we made a concerted effort in coming out in the beginning of the third to make a great push, and we did that.”

The third quarter featured a dominant defensive effort and a quick, explosive offensive jolt from Allen. The sweet-shooting veteran is as dangerous as anyone in basketball looking at open shots and he poured in 12 points in the quarter with six coming on two 25-foot jumpers. The Celts put together a 14-6 spurt with Allen getting 10 as the lead grew to 67-48 with 5:40 to go in the quarter. The Celts’ defense stiffened as well with the Hawks managing just 30 percent (7-for-23) shooting in the quarter as Boston raced to a 73-55 lead.

The Celts played with more than a 20-point lead for the majority of the fourth quarter.

“It’s good to get that first one out of the way,” said Rivers. “I think our guys have really been waiting for it longer than most teams in a lot of ways after having it sewed up a few weeks ago. I thought we played well but we can play better and that’s the good news.”

Next Game

Wednesday

vs. Hawks

8 p.m.

kmcnamar@projo.com