Joe Johnson’s slump is officially over. And so is this series.
Johnson shot was, as lil wayne would say, wetter than Nu-rain.
After every successful three that he drilled, the Phillips Arena crowd rose with the feeling that the Hawks recent playoff misfortunes were about to be a distant memory. JJ lit up the Heat for 27 points on 6 of 8 from three point land, knocking down a couple threes from seemingly 40 feet out. 
Then came the dagger.
With about eight and a half minutes left in the game, Johnson jab-stepped Dwayne Wade and nailed a three in dramatic fashion that put the Hawks up by 26. He then slowly walked up the court with a world of swagger.
However, D-Wade wasn’t bad, scoring a respectable 31 points. He just didn’t have the supporting cast that the Hawks do. Flip Murray scored in double figures and the unpredictable yet explosive Josh Smith scored 21 points and grabbed 9 boards, including a couple of nasty slams.
This win places the Hawks into the second round for the first time in ten years, yet nobody will give them a shot to beat the Cavs in the conference semifinals.
Of course, they were heavy underdogs last year against the eventual NBA champ Celtics, the scary thing is the Hawks have gotten better.
A lot better.
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