Atlanta: The Atlanta Hawks defeated Brooklyn 96-91 to take a 2-0 lead in their play-off series Wednesday, just hours after announcing the club’s sale to a group headed by US business tycoon Tony Ressler.
A group headed by billionaire Ressler has agreed to purchase the Hawks for $850 million (Dh3.1 bollion). The team announced the deal Wednesday during the first half of the Hawks’ Eastern Conference play-off game against the Brooklyn Nets.
The sale price was not released. But a person familiar with the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity because the two sides did not reveal that information, said Ressler’s group would pay $850 million, including debt the team owes.
Paul Millsap paced the Hawks attack by scoring 19 points as the Eastern Conference regular-season champions held onto home court advantage in their best-of-seven first-round series.
The Hawks got a big boost from their perimetre shooters Wednesday. They drained 12-of-31 attempts from beyond the arc, while fighting off a late rally from the Nets to become the sixth NBA team during this post-season to claim a 2-0 lead in the first round of the postseason.
Millsap was a perfect four-for-four from the three-point line and seven-of-11 overall from the floor, Kyle Korver buried a trio of three-pointers en route to 17 points and Jeff Teague hit a pair of triples while collecting 16 points and six assists.
“The three-point shot was working,” Millsap said. “I was wide-open on a lot of shots. The drive-and-kick helped us out a lot. I was able to get free a few times. It really started with the guards penetrating, getting me easy buckets.”
In other play-off action Wednesday, the Memphis Grizzlies breezed past the Portland Trail Blazers 97-82 to take a 2-0 in their Western Conference series.
In Los Angeles, the San Antonio Spurs edged the Los Angeles Clippers 111-107 in overtime to even their series at 1-1.
Al Horford led the inside attack for the Hawks despite playing with a dislocated finger. He tallied 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in addition to handing out seven assists.
“Honestly, once the game started, right from the beginning it went out the window,” said Horford of the injury. “I just went out there and played.”
Jarrett Jack tallied 23 points on nine-of-13 shooting for the eighth-seeded Nets, with Brook Lopez finishing with 20 points and Joe Johnson scoring 19 in the loss.
Brooklyn will seek to bounce back when the series shifts to Barclays Center for Saturday’s game three.
Mike Conley had 18 points and six assists as the Grizzlies cruised to a win over Portland.
Conley, who missed the last four games of the regular season due to the injury, went six-of-11 from the floor.
Marc Gasol posted 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Zach Randolph tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds and Courtney Lee scored 18 points for Memphis.
It is the first 2-0 play-off series lead in franchise history for the Grizzlies who played their first NBA season in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Hawks went on the market after discovering an inflammatory email written by co-owner Bruce Levenson in 2012, complaining about the racial makeup of the team’s fans. On the heels of Donald Sterling’s forced ouster as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers under similar circumstances, Levenson announced he would sell his share of the Hawks.
The deal still must be approved by three-fourths of the NBA’s other 29 owners. That should not be a problem, given that Ressler is a minority owner of baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers and is familiar to the NBA for his attempts to buy the Los Angeles Clippers last year.
“We are honored and thrilled to have been chosen to become the new stewards of the Hawks,” Ressler said in a statement issued by the team. “We respect the NBA’s approval process and, accordingly, can say no more other than we are incredibly excited by the Hawks’ success and wish them luck in the playoffs.”
