The visiting Boston Celtics raced to a 26-point lead in the first quarter and went on to rout the Atlanta Hawks 99-76 in the NBA yesterday.

Atlanta missed five of its first six shots, and Boston had a double-digit lead before the game was 4 minutes old. At 13-3, Atlanta coach Larry Drew called the first of three timeouts in the opening quarter in a desperate attempts to slow the Celtics.

Nothing worked. Boston made 18 of 25 shots, the Hawks just 4 of 17 and it was 39-13 at the end of the first.

Boston's Nate Robinson had 16 points and 10 assists filling in for Rajon Rondo, who missed the game with a hamstring strain.

Mike Bibby led the Hawks with 11 points.

Pacers 93, Heat 77

In Miami, the hosts' week of woe continued as Dwayne Wade had his worst-ever shooting game and Indiana recorded a comfortable win.

Wade finished with three points on 1-for-13 shooting. He had never shot so poorly when taking at least 13 tries, and the point total was the third-lowest of his career. He has been held scoreless twice.

Danny Granger had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Brandon Rush added 20 points for the Pacers, who took control with a 29-11 run in the second quarter.

LeBron James scored 25 points and Chris Bosh had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which learned earlier yesterday that top reserve Udonis Haslem will need surgery to repair a torn foot ligament and be out indefinitely.