(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Atlanta Hawks with a must win on the road played with more then they have all Playoffs. After a closely contested first half, the Hawks outscored the Bucks 29-11 in the third quarter and held on to win 83-69. Atlanta got 22 points from Joe Johnson and Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford finished with 24 points.“The bottom line today is we brought our hard hats and not our fishing caps,” Smith said. “We established ourselves early. They gave us a fight, but we were just hungry tonight. I haven’t seen us play like this the whole series.” Atlanta heads back to the Philips Center where the city will turn down Wacka Flocka Flame on the radio and tune into the Hawks game.

Milwaukee had a chance to finish off the Hawks at home and advance to the Eastern Conf. Semifinals, instead they left their offense in the locker room. Bucks shot 25 of 76 from the field for 32.9%, and 7 of 26 from deep. John Slamons and Brandon Jennings combined for 20 points on 6 of 28 shooting. Carlos Delfino had 20 and was the only player with more then 13 points. Bucks. Milwaukee may have to put the blame solely on Jerry Stackhouse for this:

Stackhouse said it was his fourth time singing the national anthem. “I’m a little disappointed that my mojo didn’t work,” he said. “I’m 3-1 now.”  Series tied 3-3.

(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Once again the Lakers came out fired up, jumping out to a 13-4 lead, before the Thunder woke up to gain the lead 27-26 by the end of the first. After a back and fourth game, it came down to the final possession. Kobe missed a fade-away jumper and Pau Gasol was there to tip the ball in with .05 on the clock given the Lakers a1-point lead. Kobe lead all scorers with 32 points, and the only other Lakers in double figures were Derek Fisher, and Shannon Brown both with 11.

Ron Artest’s defense on Kevin Durant was the x-factor in this game and the series. Durant shot 5 of 23, for 26 points, which came mostly from the charity stripe where he went 14-15. Jeff Green had 16 in his best game of the series, and Russell Westbrook was solid with 21 points and 9 assists. Thunder were unable to execute with less then a minute left and the lead, allowing the Lakers multiple chances to win the game. Phil Jackson came up with an unexpected answer to a question about why visiting teams are generally more vulnerable. “You have to remember these men are out there in their underwear, in their shorts. These aren’t like the old days but they are pretty scantily clad, and they are, you know, in front of their fans. If you’re at all self-conscious, there you are.”

After a 50-win season and their first appearance in the playoffs, Oklahoma City gave the city and their fans an exciting and competitive series against the Lakers.

(Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

In the most disappointing series of this years playoffs, the Nuggets got completely embarrassed by the Utah Jazz. the above pic describes the awkwardness of this entire series. Denver was without its head coach George Karl as everyone in the world knows, and it had to affect the team in a major way. They seemed easily shook, and out of sorts on defense. Chauncey Billups led Denver with 30 points and Anthony finished with 20 points on 6 for 22 shooting.

After Carmelo’s explosion in Game 1 the Jazz won three straight and ended the series in Game 6 in front of their fans 112-104. 91 combined free throws were attempted…damn! Matthews went 13 for 15 from the free throw line.

Deron Williams had 14 points, and 10 dimes. Boozer had 22 points and 20 boards. Utah now heads to Los Angeles for a rematch of last years Round 1 matchup where the Jazz where dismissed in 5 games. Lakers were without Bynum, and the addition of Artest should be too much for the Jazz.