The Celtics’ Leon Powe goes up for a basket during the first half of last night’s Game Five against the Atlanta Hawks at TD Banknorth Garden.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

BOSTON — If anyone knew the weight of the stakes riding on last night’s game, it was Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

Not only did Rivers play in the NBA, but several of his closest friends now coach in the league. One, the Dallas Mavericks’ Avery Johnson, was fired yesterday. The two men spoke yesterday after the news broke.

“I’m not happy, but it’s our league. It’s what we do,” Rivers said of Johnson’s dismissal. “It means we better win. That’s our profession. I understand that and always have. It’s a tough profession and it’s getting tougher, but I still love it. Avery still loves it.”

Playoff pressure only increases the heat on coaches to win games. Rivers feels it and will feel it even more if the Celtics can’t get out of this first-round playoff series.

“We see it here. You lose two games and you’re a dunce and everybody hates you. You win two games, you’re a genius,” said Rivers.

Coaches, like players, are paid handsomely to deal with the win-first pressure of their jobs. That doesn’t make firings any easier but is a fact of life in a high-risk, high-reward business.

“To me, it’s a byproduct of interest. Good interest,” said Rivers. “Twenty years ago, no one cared. So at least people care enough to have a passion about it. That’s not all bad.”

Not looking ahead

One coach who is doing a great job of clearing up his uncertain future is Atlanta’s Mike Woodson. His contract ends at the end of this season, his fourth with the Hawks. Asked if the team will bring free agent Josh Smith back next season, Woodson answered, “At the end of the season, if I’m the coach, we’ll all sit down and try to evaluate that. We’re not far away, but we are a ways away to getting 50-55 wins and that neighborhood. You want to try and move up in the standings where possibly we can have home-court advantage in the playoffs.”

Does he think he’ll be back as the coach? “Right now, I’m paid to coach this team. I’m the coach now and my contract runs out at the end of June. We’ll see where we are at that particular point.”

Woodson said he deemed this season a success even before the postseason wins.

“I don’t think this series has anything to do with it. The bottom line is our team has gotten better every year. You guys are the ones who probably think this team should be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I don’t see it that way. We’re young and we’re headed in the right direction. Our individual talent has gotten better and now we’re learning as a team how to win.”

Horford impressive

Atlanta rookie Al Horford has shown the Celtics in this series why he finished second in the NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award voting. Seattle’s Kevin Durant won it.

“Kevin deserved the award,” Horford said. “I felt that he was the other rookie that was consistent all year, and I knew it was going to be between me and him, so I feel pretty good about him winning. I texted him as soon as I found out and we’re still real cool.”

Hawks players and coaches said that because Horford helped his team to the playoffs and Durant did not, that should have helped him win the award.

“I’m not taking anything away from Durant,” said Woodson. “I respect Durant and what he’s done this year as a young player in our league. He’s a great talent, but you can’t exclude Al Horford. They should have shared it, I think, if not Al getting it.”

Little playoff success

Although no Celtic wants to bring it up, the playoffs have not been kind to Kevin Garnett in what is likely to be a Hall of Fame career.

Garnett carried the Minnesota Timberwolves to eight playoff appearances, but the ’Wolves escaped the first round only once. That season, 2004, the team advanced to the Western Conference finals but lost to the Lakers in six games. Getting out of the first round this season with the Celtics is certainly mandatory, especially since the Celts are the top seeds in the East.

The T-Wolves were a one-man band for much of Garnett’s 12 seasons in Minnesota, but two key moves helped the ’04 team make its move. The team acquired Latrell Sprewell and then current Celtics teammate Sam Cassell. The T-Wolves set a franchise record with 58 wins and then beat Denver (4-1) and Sacramento (4-3) for their first playoff series wins. Garnett’s only postseason run ended against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.