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Four days ago the top seeded Hawks and Warriors appeared to be in trouble, trailing 2-1 in their respective second round series. Both have turned things around, and now they have a chance to advance to the conference Finals with road wins tonight. The Hawks have not been to the Conference Finals since 1970 -- when the NBA had 10 teams. They haven't won two series in a single post season since 1961 when the team was in St. Louis. The Warriors were last in the Conference Finals in 1975, the year after they won their only NBA Championship.
Atlanta Hawks at Washington Wizards, 4:00 PM, ESPN -- Hawks lead series 3-2
John Wall provided a nice spark for the Wizards when he played despite a fractured hand and wrist in Game 5, but the Hawks won a see-saw battle on an Al Horford put back. This Wizards have played with the Hawks throughout the series, so don't be surprised if those one goes back to the ATL for a Game 7 Sunday.
Golden State Warriors at Memphis Grizzlies, 6:30 PM, ESPN -- Warriors lead series 3-2
The Warriors stormed back from their series deficit with two straight games where Stephen Curry and company shot the lights out while their top rated defense swarmed all over the Grizzlies. The Grindfather Tony Allen will be back in the lineup for Memphis tonight, but we'll see if that's a blessing or a curse -- his defense on Klay Thompson has been stellar, but if Andrew Bogut is able to ignore him and play roverback on the other end it might be a net negative. The Clippers would love to see this one go seven as their own series will -- if the Grizzlies win and force a Game 7 and the Clippers can get past the Rockets tomorrow, they'll have one extra day of rest compared to their opponent when the conference finals start. If the Warriors close it out tonight, then they get the rest dividend (just one more reason that LA's Game 6 collapse really hurt).