Griffiths took several months to convince Deila he was the man

NEW YORK -- Paul Millsap had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and the Atlanta Hawks moved to the verge of a playoff spot with a 93-88 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night. Emilio Pagan Jersey . The Hawks could have clinched the final Eastern Conference berth had the Knicks lost in Toronto. Instead, Atlanta remained two games up with three to play, needing just one more win or New York loss to secure its post-season place. Jeff Teague added 22 points for the Hawks, who won for just the fifth time in 13 games and are only 36-43, but that might be good enough in the East. He frequently took advantage of a matchup with little brother Marquis, forced to play extended minutes while the Nets rested some regulars. Atlanta was just 1 of 19 from 3-point range, but hit 20 of its 21 free throws. Mason Plumlee scored 17 points and Marcus Thornton had 14 for the Nets, who had their franchise-record, 15-game home winning streak snapped. Brooklyn, likely locked into the No. 5 seed, rested starters Deron Williams (right patella tendinitis) and Shaun Livingston, who missed his second straight with a sprained right big toe. Paul Pierce had 13 points for the Nets, becoming the 18th player in NBA history with 25,000. But he was just 2 of 6 from the free throw line and 1 of 7 behind the arc. Atlanta can wrap up its spot by beating Miami at home on Saturday. The Hawks opened their largest lead at 64-53 midway through the third quarter after a run of seven straight points, but the Nets made 10 of 16 shots in the period and were back within 74-73 heading to the fourth. Jeff Teague, about 4 1/2 years older than Marquis, couldnt hide a big grin in the fourth quarter when a crossover dribble caused Marquis to fall down. But starter Jorge Gutierrez soon came back in and found Plumlee for a three-point play that gave Brooklyn an 88-87 lead with 2:22 to play. Millsaps reverse layup gave Atlanta the lead again, and the Hawks got a break when an original offensive foul call on Teague for charging into Gutierrez was overturned when instant replay showed Gutierrez was in the restricted area. The free throws made it 91-88 with 1:46 remaining, and the Nets couldnt score again before Teague put it away with two more free throws. Brooklyn led 23-16 after one but the Hawks turned around the game with a 39-point second quarter, when Jeff Teague scored 14 points in 7 minutes. Much of that came when he was against Marquis, a seldom-used player in his second season and first with the Nets after he was traded this season from Chicago. Marquis Teague was forced to play extended minutes when Gutierrez picked up his third foul with 5:40 left in the half and the Nets leading by two. Jeff Teague then scored 11 points in the final 5:16, converting a three-point play when his brother fouled him and later making two free throws after beating Marquis so badly with a crossover dribble that Marquis had to foul him to stop a layup. Notes: There was a moment of silence before the game for Lou Hudson, the former Hawks All-Star who died Friday at 69. ... Williams was hosting 65 families of children affected by autism in luxury suites. Williams, whose son is autistic, was scheduled for a meet and greet session with the families after the game. Daniel Robertson Rays Jersey . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria. Michael Perez Jersey . "Rob brings a wealth of coaching experience, having worked both in Canada and overseas in player development," Canada Soccer technical director Tony Fonseca said in a release. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/1406i-brandon-lowe-jersey-rays.html . -- Coyotes coach Dave Tippett thinks of one thing when he watches Eastern Conference teams struggle against Western opponents before they get to Phoenix: His team must keep pace.Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths is determined to repay Ronny Deila for helping his career by delivering the Scottish Premiership title. The Hoops require seven points at most to be crowned champions of Scotland for the fifth successive season.Celtic have endured a troubled week following their surprise Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Championship winners Rangers at Hampden last Sunday. And coming so soon after a League Cup semi-final defeat to Ross County in January at the National Stadium. where the Hoops also under-performed, Deila has decided to leave Celtic Park at the end of the campaign.Griffiths, who has scored 37 goals this season and has credited Deila will vastly improving his game, is determined to ensure the Norwegian leaves the club with a third trophy in his two-year reign.After Sundays defeat and then the gaffer coming out with that, it was a shock to everybody but weve still got five games left to give him the perfect send-off, the 25-year-old said.He told us just before we went out to train on Wednesday that he had decided to step down as manager and as a whole, the squad was disappointed. Celtic striiker Leigh Griffiths has scored 37 times this season Hopefully at the end of the season hell look back on his time and he has delivered three trophies in two years. Austin Meadows Jersey. . He can count that as a success.The European campaigns obviously havent been great and the cup runs havent been great but we got two trophies last year and we are looking to get five in a row.Griffiths took several months to convince Deila he was the man to lead the line after the former Stromsgodset boss arrived in the summer of 2014, but the Scotland international is aware he will have continue to maintain his standards to impress the next boss.After the first four or five months I didnt look back and come pre-season I will have to do it all over again, Griffiths said.First and foremost, we still have to win the next five games to win the league. After that it is up to the club to decide who they bring in and hopefully we hit the ground running in pre-season. Hopefully the new manager coming in, he will see what I have done this season and towards the end of last season and hopefully we can kick on from there. Also See: Celtic video Celtic fixtures Celtic stats Get ￡10 free bet! ' ' '