ATLANTA — After watching the Boston Celtics perform impeccably in the first two games of their NBA playoff series, now it’s the Atlanta Hawks’ turn. Ready or not.

The playoff adage that says a series doesn’t really begin until the home team loses a game rings true in this series. When the Celtics invade Philips Arena here tonight, they’ll be looking for a 3-0 series lead. The Hawks, meanwhile, have nothing less than their season on the line.

“There’s pressure on us. There’s no doubt about that,” said Atlanta coach Mike Woodson. “In playoff basketball your job is to protect home. When you don’t, it makes it even tougher. They protected their home base and now we have to see what we’re made of and see if we can come out and protect ours.”

The Hawks spoke proudly, if not boldly, after a two-hour workout yesterday.

“All of our jitters are out,” said Josh Smith, 22. “We have to win this game and put the pressure back on them. We try to bring a lot of excitement to our games at home. We’ve played way better here than on the road.”

The numbers do give the Hawks some hope. They finished 25-16 at Philips Arena and 12-29 in other NBA locales. They average 16,281 fans at home. With the youngest (24.8 years) roster among playoff teams, the Hawks clearly enjoy the comforts of home.

“We want to jump right on them. We definitely want them to call the first timeout,” said Smith. “I know our fans will be ready.”

“We need to be at home right now,” said Woodson. “The road has been kind of tough on us this season. We made our move this season playing in Philips Arena, playing in front of our fans. When you’re building a young team and learning how to win, you have to establish your home base. I thought we did that this year. We want to make it tough on these guys when they step into our building.”

Whether the Hawks can pull it off largely rests on the pace of the game. Woodson likes to see his team’s young legs sprinting up and down the floor, pushing the pace and letting athletic big men like Smith, Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams compete in a transition game. In two games, the Hawks have had a mere 19 fast-break points.

“We’ve got to get up and down the floor more,” said Johnson, “and we have to keep making that extra pass. We haven’t had enough ball movement. That will hurt this team.”

Johnson was Atlanta’s leading scorer (21.7) in the regular season. He’s averaging 15 points on 34 percent shooting in two playoff games. The Hawks as a team are making just 38 percent of their shots, 16 percent (3 of 19) from behind the 3-point line.

Stiff defense has been Boston’s calling card this season and so far Kevin Garnett and company have locked up the Hawks at every turn. If that trend continues tonight, the Hawks’ turn in the NBA’s spotlight will end up being brief.

kmcnamar@projo.com