Against all odds, Deron Williams and Brooklyn Nets make it a series with Atlanta Hawks

Deron Williams finally delivered the game that’s expected of him, and he wasn’t going to let the Brooklyn Nets lose it.

And after he finished carrying them into a 2-2 tie with the Eastern Conference’s No 1 seed, the guy who had been beaten up physically on the court and by fans and media off it knew how important his performance was.

“We really needed to get this one to stay in the series,” he said, “and so it was definitely one of my better games this year for sure and probably as a Net.”

Williams rebounded from two dismal games by tying a play-off career high with 35 points, and Brooklyn pulled out a 120-115 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night in Game 4.

The Nets, just 38-44 in the regular season, moved two victories from becoming the sixth No 8 seed to beat a No 1 – only the fourth since the first round became best-of-7.

“This is what the play-offs are all about. What we expect is to be challenged, and this is a great challenge for us,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said.

Bojan Bogdanovic made the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:25 left in overtime but the Nets never would have gotten there without Williams, whose 16 points in the fourth quarter were two fewer than he had total in the first three games of the series.

Brook Lopez had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets.

Jeff Teague had 20 points and 11 assists, and DeMarre Carroll added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks, who host Game 5 on Wednesday.

Kyle Korver had 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the NBA’s leading three-point shooter missed three straight from behind the arc in the final seconds with the Hawks trailing by three.

The Nets finally got the rebound and former Hawks star Joe Johnson closed it out with two free throws, ending what was by far the best game of the series and perhaps the most memorable one in the 3-season history of NBA basketball in Brooklyn.

“What a basketball game that was,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. “To me, that’s what playing this sport is all about.”

Neither team had reached 100 points in any of the first three games and the Hawks had made only 39 per cent of their shots. But they were mostly back in the form that produced 60 wins in the regular season – but the Nets were just a little better.

That’s mostly because of Williams, who was 1-for-7 and 1-for-8 in the last two games, sitting out the last 16 minutes of Game 3 after hurting his tailbone and watching as the Nets seized control without him.

But he moved well and shot better Monday, making seven three-pointers, including going 4-of-4 in his fourth-quarter flurry.

“We understand and we know that Deron’s capable of doing that,” Hawks centre Al Horford said. “You can only contain that type of player for so long. He had three not-so-great games. He came out tonight and he was the difference.”

Williams had only two free throws in overtime, capping the Nets’ run of seven straight points after Horford gave Atlanta their last lead, 113-111 with 1:44 remaining.

Williams is a two-time Olympic gold medalist but has battled injuries since signing a five-year, US$98.5 million (Dh361.8m) contract in 2012. He averaged just 13 points during the regular season, and when he followed that with a dismal start to this series, Hollins had to defend his point guard from criticism during practice Sunday.

Williams then saved the Nets from a 3-1 deficit with his huge fourth quarter, when he even hit a turnaround three-pointer from well behind the arc as the shot clock was set to expire.

Millsap had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks, who had beaten the Nets six straight times this season before Brooklyn won both games here.

In Chicago, Michael Carter-Williams had 22 points and eight assists, Khris Middleton scored 21 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks avoided elimination again with a 94-88 victory over the Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

With a 3-2 lead, the Bulls will try to close it out again Thursday at Milwaukee. But the Bucks aren’t going quietly after dropping the first three games.

They took Game 4 on a last-second layup by Jerryd Bayless and withstood several pushes by the Bulls in the fourth quarter of this one.

The Bucks regrouped after a nine-point lead dwindled to three, and they hung on again after a seven-point lead shrunk to four with just over a minute remaining.

Carter-Williams hit 10-of-15 shots while outplaying Derrick Rose. The Bucks’ guard rolled his right ankle early in the third but came back late in the quarter.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 11 points and reserve OJ Mayo added 10 as the Bucks kept the Bulls off balance most of the game.

Pau Gasol had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago but Rose and Jimmy Butler struggled.

Rose was 5-of-20 from the field and missed all seven three-point attempts. He committed six of his team’s 13 turnovers. Butler scored 20 points but shot 5-of-21.

In Portland, Damian Lillard had 32 points and the Portland Trail Blazers avoided elimination from the playoffs with a 99-92 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Memphis led by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter, but Portland rallied to deny the Grizzlies their first-ever playoff sweep.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Portland.

Game 5 is Wednesday in Memphis.

*Associated Press