Atlanta Hawks, Nba Playoffs Eastern Conference | featured news

The Orlando Magic are playing like a team that will settle for nothing less than its first NBA championship....

Rashard Lewis scored 22 points and the backups helped Orlando pull away early with Dwight Howard on the bench as the Magic romped to another playoff blowout, moving to the brink of their second straight sweep with a 105-75 victory over the Hawks on Saturday.

Maybe all the Orlando Magic needed after a slow start was a slap in the face. Dwight Howard came back from a bloody nose to finish with 29 points and 17 rebounds, and the Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks 112-98 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Jamal Crawford saw the end to his series-long shooting slump coming, making a promise after the pregame shootaround: It'll be back tonight. Crawford then went out and finally played like the NBA's sixth man of the year in the playoffs, scoring 24 points to help the Atlanta Hawks beat the Milwaukee Bucks 83-69 on Friday night to force a seventh game in the first-round series.

John Salmons scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and the Milwaukee Bucks never let up after a hot start in a 107-89 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.

The Atlanta Hawks are off to a good start in the playoffs, even though they barely showed up for the second half.