Hawks rally to force game seven in NBA East playoffs

The Atlanta Hawks staved off elimination in the NBA playoffs, turning it on in the second half to beat Milwaukee 83-69 and extend their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Jamal Crawford, winner of the league's Sixth Man award as top reserve, broke out of a slump to contribute 24 points for Atlanta.

Crawford was coming off a disappointing 4-for-18 shooting performance in game five, and he hadn't done much better in the first four games.

"I felt like I was letting everybody down the first few games, especially the last game," Crawford said. "I haven't slept much the last couple of days. Usually in that situation the next game can't come fast enough."

Hawks coach Mike Woodson said he told Crawford to just keep shooting.

"There's going to be nights where he just doesn't put it in the hole," Woodson said. "But tonight, he was there when we needed him."

Joe Johnson added 22 points as the Hawks, the heavy favorites to take the series, gave themselves one more chance to do that at home on Sunday.

Carlos Delfino scored 20 points for the Bucks, who lost their spark in the second half.

The Bucks led by three at halftime. Delfino opened the second half with a layup, but Milwaukee went cold as the Hawks went on a 19-0 scoring run.

Atlanta outscored Milwaukee 29-11 in the third quarter as they took a 15-point lead.

The Bucks tried to battle back in the last six minutes, cutting the lead to seven points, but Atlanta held on.

Josh Smith delivered a key block of a John Salmons shot with just over 2 minutes remaining to help squash the Bucks rally.

Bucks coach Scott Skiles said his team looked "panicky".

"It's the first time we've been in this type of game and we didn't react nearly as well as we would've liked to have reacted, that's for sure," Skiles said. "Now we've got to find a way to go down there and get another one."

Salmons and Brandon Jennings endured a tough scoring night.

Jennings scored 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting, including 1 of 9 from three-point range.

The rookie, who was a solid offensive threat through most of the first five games, missed his first six shots and made dubious decisions with the ball.

Salmons finished with eight points on 2-for-13 shooting.

The Bucks were big underdogs going into the series after losing center Andrew Bogut to arm injuries suffered in a fall in a game near the end of the regular season.

After the Hawks won the first two games, the Bucks won two at home then shocked the Hawks in Atlanta in game five.

"It's game seven now," Jennings said. "We worked so hard for this. We've got to go in there and know that we can win. We didn't prepare all year just to get to the playoffs and then just say forget it."