Hawks cruise past Nets to advance

By The Associated Press Being tied after four games of the first round brought out the best in the Atlanta Hawks.

And, as they showed in delivering a devastating thirdquarter knockout, their best was better than anyone else in the Eastern Conference this season.

Paul Millsap had 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and the Hawks finally finished off the Brooklyn Nets in six games, advancing to the East semifinals with a 111-87 victory Friday night.

“We believe,” forward DeMarre Carroll said,

“We believe that when we are playing the right way, as you seen tonight, we can beat anybody.”

Kyle Korver added 20 points and hit three of his six 3-pointers in a series-deciding surge as the Hawks turned a six-point halftime advantage into the only blowout of the series.

The East’s No. 1 seed has a quick turnaround before facing Washington Sunday in its second-round opener.

“We didn’t play that well the first three games. I didn’t think we had our edge,” Korver said.

“I think coming here and losing two kind of woke of us.”

The Wizards, the No. 5 seed, swept Toronto in the first round.

Atlanta won the final two games and left no doubt about this one after beginning the second half with a 23-3 blitz that made it 74-48, opening as big a gap on the scoreboard as there was between the teams in the standings.

The Hawks were 60-22 in the regular season and the Nets were 38-44 as the last team to qualify for the postseason, but Atlanta had outscored Brooklyn by just nine points through the first five games.

The Nets looked as if they would keep this one close after recovering from the Hawks’ strong start, but Atlanta wouldn’t let that happen.

Brook Lopez scored 19 points for the Nets, who prevented first-round elimination with Game 6 wins each of the past two years.

But a lethargic start to the third quarter ended any hopes the Nets had of taking the series back to Atlanta Sunday.

“We wanted to make the playoffs,” Nets guard Deron Williams said.

“We did, and we thought we put up a great effort against this team that’s the best in the East.”