ATLANTA - Jeff Teague says he never doubted the Atlanta Hawks would be in the playoffs. Bradley Fletcher Jersey . Even with Al Horfords season-ending injury in December and a 1-14 stretch in February and March, the Hawks made the Eastern Conference field with two games remaining. "Im happy for all the guys," Teague said. "We worked so hard all year. Injuries and everything that can happen to a team happened. We were able to still make it to the playoffs." Teague scored 25 points, Lou Williams had 18 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and the Hawks earned the Easts final playoff spot with a 98-85 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday night. Atlantas third straight victory eliminated the New York Knicks from playoff contention. Williams scored the Hawks last 12 points. LeBron James finished with 27 points and Dwyane Wade, in his first game since missing nine straight with a sore left hamstring, scored 24 for Miami. The two-time defending champion Heat, who have lost three of four, gave up the ground they gained in the standings Friday by beating Indiana at home and taking a one-half game lead over the Pacers. Miami and Indiana are now tied atop the Eastern Conference with 54-26 records. The Heats 85 points were their third-fewest this season. "Its not finished," James said. "I see the standings. Theres a couple games left and the seeding is changing every day." James and Chris Bosh returned to the floor with 6:42 remaining and Miami trailing 81-72, but DeMarre Carroll stole the ball from Bosh and Mike Scotts fastbreak dunk put Atlanta ahead by 11 with 6:09 remaining. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called timeout to settle down his team, but James missed a jumper and Teague hit a free throw to make it 84-72. James hit a 3 two possessions later, but Teague drove to the rim again for an 11-point lead, and Miami never got closer than eight the rest of the way. Wade finished the first half with 16 points, going 7 for 7 from the field in just 11 minutes. He began the third quarter with an offensive foul, a missed jumper and hit one of two free throws, but he finished strong before sitting out the final 5:46 to rest. "It was good, better than I can envision," Wade said. "When youre out so long, youre just thinking of getting your wind back. I think the best thing that happened was the first play of the game, getting that block and then LeBron kind of holding up and letting me get the first dunk. From there, I kind of was into the game." The Hawks never trailed after Teagues 12-footer made it 53-51 early in the third. Carroll finished with 17 points, and Paul Millsap added 11. Scott scored 12 points in a reserve role, joining Williams to help Atlantas bench outscore Miamis 35-8. Bosh finished with 11 points. "Needless to say that was a tough second half," Spoelstra said. "We couldnt get it going on either side of the court. Its disappointing to have this type of performance on the road." Miami visits Washington on Monday and end the regular season at home Wednesday against Philadelphia. The Pacers host Oklahoma City on Sunday and visit Orlando on Wednesday to close the regular season. Atlanta hosts Charlotte on Monday and visits Milwaukee on Wednesday. As the No. 8 seed, the Hawks will play either Miami or Indiana in the first round of the playoffs. "Im happy that we get to play more games and I get to talk more about improving and getting better each practice," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. "We want to build something here. Miami has been in the Finals for three years in a row. There are a lot of teams that have had a lot of success. It takes time to build your habits." NOTES: A moment of silence was held before the game following the death Friday of Lou Hudson, the six-time All-Star with the Hawks who retired in 1979 and still ranks as the franchises third-leading scorer. ... The Hawks are wearing a black stripe on their uniform to acknowledge Hudsons passing. ... The Heat dropped to 22-18 on the road. ... The Hawks improved to 24-16 at home. ... Atlanta is in the playoffs for the seventh straight year, longest active streak in the East. Jason Peters Jersey . Headlining the 27 players were first-round NHL draftees Rasmus Ristolainen and Teuvo Teravainen. Both players are returnees from the 2013 Finnish World Junior team. Fletcher Cox Jersey . The Basque club improved to four points better than fifth-place Villarreal in the duel for the last Champions League qualifying place. Celta should have come away with more from the high tempo game.NEW YORK -- Not much has gone right for the Edmonton Oilers and Nail Yakupov in a season where much was expected. The first pick in the 2012 draft showed a glimpse Thursday night of why there was optimism in Edmonton before the season. Yakupov scored with 1:38 left in regulation to give the Oilers to a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers. Ryan Smyth also scored for Edmonton, which is 5-5 in its last 10. Ben Scrivens made 35 saves. "Finally we get rewarded," Oilers coach Dallas Eakins said. New Yorks season-high four-game winning streak came to an end. Derick Brassard scored and Cam Talbot made 29 saves. "I dont think it was consistent enough," Rangers right wing Ryan Callahan said of his teams play. "We need to have more of a consistent 60 minutes to get the win. "I dont think we were getting pucks deep quite enough. Theyre a good transition team with a lot of speed. We were a little sloppy through the neutral zone and when you do that against a team like that it will cost you." New Yorks sloppiness came at a most opportune time for the Oilers. Yakupov one-timed a feed from Sam Gagner past Talbot for the game-winning goal. "It was a good play by our guys down low to protect the puck," Yakupov said. "A great change by (Jordan Eberle). All I had to do was find space in the middle because I saw the two guys behind. I just had to find a spot. I think that was our top game this season. We need to do it to have a good time before the break." Yakupovs goal, his 11th of the season, broke a tie that carried over from the second period. After Smyth opened the scoring 2:56 into the game by shoving a rebound of David Perrrons shot past Talbot, Brassard drew the Rangers even at 1-1 with a slap shot that beat Scrivens 22 seconds into the second periood. Evan Mathis Jersey. Brassards goal was his 11th of the season, and it was created by Benoit Pouliot intercepting Eberles pass in the Edmonton defensive zone. Pouliot whipped a pass from alongside the left wing boards to Mats Zuccarello, who found Brassard in the right faceoff circle. "All three of us try to work hard (and) play a simple game," Zuccarello said. "It doesnt matter when you lose. Its really disappointing because I thought we had a lot of chances to close out the game." But the Rangers, who finished with more shots on goal (36-31) and more shot attempts (65-51), could not find a way to solve Scrivens. "He was good," Rangers defenceman Marc Staal said. "We didnt have a lot of secondary chances, missed some good shots. I think you (have) to get in front of a guy like that. Hes playing well and I dont think we had enough traffic, causing rebounds and scrambles." Edmonton appeared to take a 2-1 lead on a power play midway through the second, but what would have been a goal by Gagner was waived off by the officiating crew of Dan OHalloran and Chris Lee. Their ruling was upheld by replay review. "(A shot) hit me right in the collarbone and ended up under my jersey," Talbot said. "It just fell down my back and the whistle had already blown." NOTES: Thursday nights game was the 6,000th regular season game in New York Rangers franchise history. ...Before the game, the Oilers announced they would play the Chicago Blackhawks in a preseason game in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on Sept. 28, 2014. The preseason game will be the third the Oilers will have played in Saskatoon. "Its always nice to get to Saskatoon and see the tremendous support the Oilers have throughout Saskatchewan," Oilers General Manager Craig MacTavish said in a statement. ' ' '
