ATLANTA -- Paul Pierce knocked down the free throws to clinch it, then dropped to a knee near midcourt.

He wasn't planning on Tebowing, but it just felt right.

With a stunning performance, Pierce single-handedly led the Boston Celtics to a playoff win -- even without their floor leader.

Pierce battled through another tough shooting night to score 36 points, and the Celtics wiped out Atlanta's 11-point lead in the second half, stunning the Hawks 87-80 on Tuesday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference series.

Boston heads home for Game 3 on Friday night tied 1-1. Rajon Rondo will be back for the Celtics in that one, his short-handed team having claimed the home-court edge even while he served a one-game suspension for bumping a ref in the postseason opener.

Pierce made sure the point guard wasn't missed, outscoring the Hawks all by himself over the last 15:08.

"I have a lot of experience, a lot of confidence from being in those moments," Pierce said. "You believe in yourself, your coach believes in you, your team believes in you, it's a combination of all those things."

Pierce scored Boston's first nine points but struggled mightily through the second and third quarters. He came through when the Celtics really needed him, especially with the Rondo-less offense a bit out of sync and Ray Allen sitting out again with an injured right ankle.

Down the stretch, the Celtics simplified things: Give the ball to Pierce and get out of the way.

"Paul was great," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "The only way we were going to win a game like this without Ray and Rondo was if Paul had a game like this."

After making a couple of foul shots with just over a minute remaining to clinch it, Pierce paused on his way back to the bench to copy the move named after NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, sinking to a knee and bowing his head for a brief prayer in the middle of the court.

"You just want to thank God for putting you in those positions," Pierce said. "It wasn't pre-scripted. It just came to me."