The Atlanta Hawks overcame a sluggish start with a sizzling run that put away the Boston Celtics 110-83 on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) in game five of an NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at Philips Arena.
Atlanta forward Mike Scott came off the bench to score 17 points, leading five Hawks in double figures. Kent Bazemore, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap all made big shots for the Hawks, who pestered the Celtics into 19 turnovers.
Atlanta lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 with game six to come on Thursday (Friday AEST) in Boston.
Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas, who was booed relentlessly every time he touched the ball, suffered through his worst game of the series and tweaked an ankle in the fourth.
Thomas finished with seven points on 3-of-12 shooting from the floor before limping off the court and back to the changing room with 10 minutes to play and the outcome long decided.
Throughout the back-and-forth series, the Hawks have grabbed big leads after slow starts by the Celtics. But Boston have had a knack at coming from behind, much like they did in the second half of a game four win on Sunday in Boston.
However, there was no coming back from the barrage the Hawks dropped on the Celtics in the second and third quarters - and especially not with Thomas struggling.
In Toronto, the Raptors erased a 13-point deficit to defeat the Indiana Pacers 102-99 at Air Canada Centre in game five of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
With the win, the Raptors take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Toronto trailed 90-77 in the third quarter before outscoring Indiana 15-2 through the first 5:29 of the fourth, tying the score at 92-92 on a monster dunk from rookie Norman Powell.
DeMar DeRozan gave the Raptors their first lead of the game, draining a three-pointer with 4:15 remaining and they never relented.
DeRozan finished with a team-high 34 points and Kyle Lowry added 14 points, four rebounds and five assists. Jonas Valanciunas chipped in with 11 points.
Paul George, who entered the game averaging 26.3 points in the series, had a game-high 39 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. George Hill added 15 points and Myles Turner had 14.
The Pacers led 61-52 at halftime.
