The Hawks earned themselves a 28-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 6 on Thursday, and yet their starters were forced to play to the end. When the surging Celtics drew within 96-86 with 1:48 left, most of their customers were still in the TD Garden and chanting for a comeback in spite of the obvious.
«Our fans are amazing,» said Isaiah Thomas, red-eyed and distraught after he (25 points while going 9-for-24) and his Celtics were held to another poor shooting night. «I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.»

Atlanta held on for an impressive 104-92 win to survive the first-round series while re-establishing its identity. Now the Hawks have to hope that the ambitious young Celtics helped them achieve tip-top playoff shape. For the next round will return the Hawks to Cleveland, where they were swept anticlimactically one year ago in the conference finals. The Cavaliers are far healthier now than they were in that series, while Atlanta has struggled to regain the form of last season, when the Hawks earned the East’s No. 1 seed.

Los Atlanta Hawks supero a los Celtics de Boston en el sexto partido de la serie que ganaron 4-2 para avanzar a semifinales de la Conferencia del Este…

Con un categorico 104-92 superaron una primera ronda de playoffs para recuperar su identidad. ahora los Hawks se enfrentaran en la siguiente ronda a los Cavaliers de Cleveland y LeBron James y compañía.