Hawks Force Game 7 - Cavs and Jazz Move On

The Utah Jazz rolled past the Houston Rockets 113-91, to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs

LeBron James posted his third career playoff triple-double, and helped contain Caron Butler as the Cavaliers routed the Wizards, 105-88, to end their Eastern Conference best-of-seven series in six games on Friday.

ATLANTA - There will be a Game 7 in the first round of the NBA playoffs. And it will decide a series many thought would have been over already.

With their third home win of the series, the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks have pushed the top-seeded Boston Celtics to the limit as they again rallied in the fourth quarter for a 103-100 victory.

Before a raucous crowd of 20,425 - the biggest in Philips Arena history - the Hawks erased an early 12-point deficit and survived a late injury to Marvin Williams to move within one win of one of the greatest upsets in NBA postseason annals. Joe Johnson made a clutch 3-pointer and two free throws in the final 70 seconds to keep Boston at bay.

Williams scored 18 points, Mike Bibby added 17 and seven assists, Al Horford contributed 16 points and Johnson and Josh Childress 15 apiece for the Hawks, who made 36-of-47 free throws as they played with aggressive desperation.

Kevin Garnett scored 22 points, Ray Allen added 20 and Paul Pierce 17 before fouling out for the Celtics, who have won all three of their home games by an average of 22.3 points.

Game 7 is Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ABC. Atlanta's last Game 7 was at Boston 20 years ago, a game marked by a memorable fourth-quarter duel between Dominique Wilkins and Larry Bird won by the Celtics. Boston lost its last Game 7 at home to Indiana in 2005.

Cleveland 105 - Washington 88 (Cavs Win Series 4-2)

The Cleveland Cavaliers did it again, eliminating the Washington Wizards in the first round of the NBA playoffs on the Wizards' home court for the third straight year.

LeBron James posted his third career playoff triple-double, and helped contain Caron Butler as the Cavaliers routed the Wizards, 105-88, to end their Eastern Conference best-of-seven series in six games on Friday.

James recorded 27 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists, while two other Cavaliers scored 20 points or more. Wally Szczerbiak scored a career playoff-best 26 and reserve Daniel Gibson added 22. Szczerbiak and Gibson combined for 10 of Cleveland's 11 3-pointers.

Antawn Jamison led Washington with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Butler, the hero of the Wizards' Wednesday Game 5 victory, was limited to 18 points, a far cry from his 32-point outburst in the series' fifth game. Brendan Haywood added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Wizards played without forward Darius Songaila, who was suspended from Friday's game. Washington was already without guard Gilbert Arenas, who ruled himself out for the rest of the season before Game 5 because of his surgically repaired left knee.

Cleveland went on a 21-4 run midway through the second quarter to pull away from Washington. The Wizards coasted along the rest of the way.

Cleveland, which reached the NBA finals a year ago, will face the winner of the Boston-Atlanta series. The series is now tied at 3-3. The deciding Game 7 is on Sunday.

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