ATLANTA, GA. – Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings soared into Philips Arena, scoring 12 straight points in the first six minutes of the game Wednesday night to let the Atlanta Hawks know his team wasn’t rolling over in Game 5 of their NBA Playoffs series.

The Hawks responded, pulling away several times throughout the game and seemed to have the deal sealed after Josh Smith sunk a long jumper with 4:10 remaining giving his team a 82-73 lead.

But here’s where the old cliché kicks in: “It’s never over ‘til it’s over”.

With the Hawks thinking about hitting the showers, the underdog Bucks had other plans and stunned the home team with a 18-5 run, storming off the court with a 91-87 come-from-behind win and a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

That final run included a 14-0 spurt where the Hawks missed seven in a row from all areas of the court, imploding in front of their shocked hometown fans.

Jamal Crawford who received the NBA Sixth Player Award just prior to opening tip, was everything but, hitting just 4 of 18 from the field.

“This is incredible. We had the game won. It just slipped away from us,” Crawford said.

With this struggle and potential elimination ahead for the Hawks, coach Mike Woodson may want to get a fresh resume ready to shop around before the season ends.

Over his tenure, his team has shown several runs of unmotivated play and with his contract due again, he has good reason to be nervous.

Another face that may be packing his bags is All-Star Joe Johnson who becomes a free agent this summer. Sometimes criticized for his lack of consistency, Johnson again showed that side of his game during this crucial game, hitting just 6 of 16 from the floor for 13 points.

“It’s a terrible loss, embarrassing. It’s the same thing, effort, toughness, that’s killing us. Everybody here should check themselves in the mirror,” said Johnson.

Yes, effort and toughness but you forgot lack of motivation. Three important qualities that have been engrained into players at playoff time by passionate successful NBA coaches like Phil Jackson and Pat Riley.

Unless the Hawks find a way to win in Milwaukee on Friday then back at home in Game 7 on Sunday in Atlanta, Mike Woodson may be involved in his final playoff series behind the bench in Atlanta.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

ATLANTA, GA. – It didn’t take long for the Atlanta Thrashers to get going Saturday night at Philips Arena in their important match-up against their Eastern Conference rival Philadelphia Flyers.

After the Thrashers’ Jim Slater squared off with Flyers’ enforcer Dan Carcillo and sent Carillo to the ice with a solid punch just 39 seconds after the puck was dropped, the Thrashers fed off that adrenaline and rookie Niclas Bergfors scored the game’s first goal about one minute later to take a 1-0 lead.

That tally was Bergfors’ 20th of the season and 7th since coming over from New Jersey in the Ilya Kovalchuk trade.
A short time later Ian Laperriere attempted to avenge Carillo’s thrashing and took on Thrashers’ enforcer Eric Boulton.

Like watching a replay, Laperriere ended up on the ice after exchanging a few punches with Boulton and again the Thrashers responded by putting the puck in the net a short time later to take a 2-0 lead.

The Thrashers never let up and played with more desperation than the visitors, carrying the play much of the game and with the help of 2 Colby Armstrong goals, his 14th and 15th of the season, went on to earn a 5-2 victory. Like Bergfors, Armstrong has come to life as of late and has 4 goals and 1 assist in the past two games.

This game was important to both teams. The Flyers came into the contest sitting in the # 5 spot in the Eastern Conference just one point ahead of the # 7 Montreal Canadians while the Thrashers were just three points behind the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot.

With the ice tilted in the Thrashers’ favor, Carillo returned to the ice after serving his fighting major penalty and regained some momentum for his team, tipping in a Chris Pronger shot for his 10th of the year at the 8:16 mark to narrow the gap to 2-1.

That is as close as the Flyers would get all night as the Thrashers never trailed in the game and each time the Flyers would score, the Thrashers would respond with another goal.

The win moved the Thrashers one point away from that final playoff spot that is owned by the Boston Bruins.

The Flyers and Thrashers meet again Sunday night to complete their back-to-back series then the Thrashers return home to face the Bruins Tuesday night for another important game at Philips Arena at 7pm.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™