Welcome, Atlanta, to the second round. Not that long the Hawks were a joke of a team. Now? They have moved on to the second round of the 2009 NBA playoffs after defeating the Miami Heat in Game 7 by a final score of 91-78.

Leading the way for the Hawks was All-Star guard Joe Johnson. In 44 minutes, Johnson had 27 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists. He hit 10-of-19 shots from the floor and 6-of-8 three-pointers. He got help from Josh Smith’s 21 points and nine rebounds, Mike Bibby’s 11 points and six assists and the 15 points off the bench from Ronald Murray.

Dwyane Wade (who else?) led the Heat with 31 points, although he connected on just 10-of-25 shots from the field. Rookie Michael Beasley had 17 points and seven boards off the bench. The only other Heat in double-digits was Udonis Haslem with 14 points to go along with 13 rebounds.

In the second round of the playoffs, the Hawks will be going up against the Cleveland Cavaliers. While LeBron and the Cavs will be tough, the Hawks have proven they are a very good home team that has enough talent to steal wins on the road.

Joe Johnson, Atlanta Hawks (Image: Newscom)

Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat defeated the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 on Friday night to force a Game 7 in the first round series. Wade played 39 minutes and scored 41 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished off two assists. The Heat’s superstar, who led the NBA in scoring this season, is now averaging 28.8 points per game in the playoffs.

Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat (Image: Newscom)

The Heat led 32-18 after the end of the first quarter and the Hawks struggled to mount any sort of comeback. The second half was dominated by Miami and they were able to post a resounding 98-72 win.

Helping out Wade was rookie Michael Beasley. The second overall pick in the draft scored 22 points and pulled down 15 rebounds off the bench.

The Hawks were led by Mike Bibby’s 20 points, while Joe Johnson and Flip Murray both scored 13 points. Atlanta played without starting center Al Horford due to a sore foot. Marvin Williams was only able to play five minutes due to a wrist injury.

Game 7 will be played in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.

Going up against the rival Detroit Pistons, the Miami Heat were struggling to stay in the contest for much of the game. However, in the final minutes, the Heat were able to make enough big plays to secure a 101-96 victory.

Udonis Haslem, Miami Heat (Image: Newscom)

Udonis Haslem scored six points in the final seven seconds including the game-winning field goal. Dwyane Wade, who finished the game with 39 points and six assists, swatted two shots down the stretch to close the door on Detroit.

With the win, Miami’s hold on the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference is much stronger. The Pistons now trail the Heat by three full games in the standings.

Detroit was led by 24 points from Rodney Stuckey, while Antonio McDyess chipped in with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Here is the highlight video of this game in which you can see the Udonis Haslem game-winning jumper to beat Detroit:

In semi-related news, my words shape the future. I am a conduit of time-force, or something. You see, last Thursday, when discussing Pat Reilly’s genius plan to avoid having to go to Miami Heat games, I casually joked that Dwyane Wade’s plan was to “just get seriously hurt, like he does every year.” Then, today:

Dwyane Wade’s season with the Miami Heat is over.

Heat coach Pat Riley announced Monday that Wade, the All-Star guard and 2006 NBA finals MVP who has battled left knee pain throughout the season, will not play in Miami’s final 21 games this year.

“I think it’s time,” Riley said.

Great, now I have to be responsible about what I write. Most of what I do is absurd hyperbole. If that crap starts coming true, we’re all in a lot of trouble. Especially all that News From the Inevitable Future stuff, that might turn out to be a problem.

Pat Reilly has had enough. He can’t watch this bullshit anymore. He’s going to watch some NCAA ball instead of coaching. Seriously.

Riley said Thursday that “there’s a possibility” he will “miss one or two” upcoming Heat games because he wants to travel to the various NCAA conference tournaments and start seeing players who’ll potentially be in this year’s draft.

“I’ll be flying in and out,” Riley said. “But I think right now, I’ve got to do that. I need to do that.”

If this didn’t work, I’d expect Pat Reilly to be constantly calling in with “a stomach thing” that people didn’t want to know the details too. Hell, he’d probably get desperate enough to try fake coughing over the phone. (Always a dangerous proposition.) *Cough* *Cough* “I know we have a game today, but there is no way I can make it in.” *Hack* *Cough*

Dwyane Wade’s plan is to just get seriously hurt, like he does every year.