Hawks hold on to beat Wizards

WASHINGTON—Avoiding overtime in Game 6 when Paul Pierce’s potential tying 3-pointer was released after the clock expired, the Atlanta Hawks made it to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time by beating the Washington Wizards 94-91 on Friday night.

The Hawks held on thanks primarily to DeMarre Carroll’s playoff careerhigh 25 points, including two layups in the last minute off assists from Jeff Teague.

After Al Horford went 1 of 2 from the free-throw line for a three-point lead, the Wizards inbounded the ball with 6.4 seconds left. They got the ball to Pierce, who won Game 3 on a bankedin buzzer-beater, then put Washington briefly ahead late in Game 5 with a 3. This time, his 3 from the corner swished through, but after a couple of anxious minutes for both teams, a replay review determined it was too late.

Once trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven series against the Wizards, the Hawks won three straight games. They improved road teams to 6-0 this postseason in Game 6s.

Now No. 1 seed Atlanta will host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the conference finals on Wednesday night.

It’s the Hawks’ first trip to a conference final since the NBA realigned into conferences in 1970-71. The team had not won two playoff series in a single year since moving to Atlanta for the 1968-69 season.

Teague and Paul Millsap both added 20 points for Atlanta, which won 60 games during the regular season but was about a .500 team for part of the postseason.

Playing with a broken left hand that forced him out of Games 2, 3 and 4, John Wall attacked the rim as if completely healthy and finished with 20 points, 13 assists and six rebounds.