The Atlanta Hawks successfully nailed down home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 106-89 win over the Dallas Mavericks in the regular season finale Thursday night at Philips Arena.
Atlanta jumped out to a 20 point lead in the first quarter and made that hold up for the remainder of the game. The Mavericks cut the lead to just 11 points early in the third but the Hawks responded and cruised home to the victory.
Josh Smith led the way for the Hawks finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Jeff Teague added 17 points and five dimes while Joe Johnson added 15 points. Kirk Hinrich chipped in 12 points while Willie Green and Ivan Johnson finished with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 22 points and Rodrigue Beaubois added 13 points and six assists. Former Hawks guard Jason Terry chipped in 11 points off the bench. The Mavericks are now locked into the seventh seed and will face Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs.
For more on this game Hawks fans should visit Peachtree Hoops and Mavericks fans should check out Mavs Moneyball. For more news and notes from around the NBA head over to SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.