(5) Washington Wizards (0-0) at (1) Atlanta Hawks (0-0), 1 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The top-seeded Atlanta Hawks survived a tricky first- round matchup and will meet the Washington Wizards in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Sunday afternoon at Philips Arena.
The Hawks, who won a franchise-best 60 games during the regular season and earned the East's top seed for the first time since 1994, are 0-15 all-time in the semifinal round.
Atlanta needed six games to eliminate the Brooklyn Nets in the quarterfinals.
After losing Games 3 and 4 in Brooklyn, the Hawks defended their home court in Game 5, then trounced the Nets Friday night, 111-87, at the Barclays Center.
Paul Millsap had 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Kyle Korver knocked down six 3-pointers and scored 20 points to go with eight boards and Jeff Teague dished out 13 assists for Atlanta.
A six-point halftime advantage ballooned to 26 following a 23-3 Atlanta run to begin the third quarter. Korver knocked down three of his triples during the near six-minute surge, including one to cap it that opened a 74-48 advantage.
The Hawks, who led by as many as 28, outscored the Nets 41-21 in the third.
"You could just see they had the wave of momentum that they weren't going to let up," Nets coach Lionel Hollins said.
Game 6 was the first time that a road team won a game in the series.
"We didn't play that well the first three games. I didn't think we had our edge," Korver said. "I think coming here and losing two kind of woke of us."
Atlanta shot 50.6 percent (43-of-85) from the floor and sunk 13-of-32 attempts from beyond the arc. It tallied 34 assists on its 43 made field goals.
The Wizards have been off for a week since they swept the fourth-seeded Toronto Raptors, the Atlantic Division champs.
Washington was led by sensational play from its backcourt -- John Wall and Bradley Beal.
Wall averaged 17.3 ppg, handed out 12.5 apg and lowered his turnovers slightly from the regular season. Beal scored well against the Raptors, averaging 20.8 ppg. He only shot 38 percent from the field and 33 percent from long range. Beal hoisted 17.8 shot attempts per game in the opening round, which was almost four more than the regular season.
Then, there's Paul Pierce.
The future Hall of Famer stated before the Toronto series the Raptors lacked the "it" factor. He backed up with several heart-breaking 3-pointers and a 15.5 ppg average.
"That's why we brought him here," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said of Pierce.
The Hawks won three of four regular-season meetings with the Wizards and finished 14 games ahead of them in the Southeast Division. Washington won the last matchup of the season, but is 1-13 in Atlanta since early 2008.
Game 2 will be Tuesday night.