Jim Reilly

One Night: Two Wins
The Atlanta Hawks clawed their way into playoff contention on Saturday, winning two games in one night against the Miami Heat, completing the tail end of a disputed December matchup before recording a traditional 97-94 victory in the nightcap. On Hawks.com Head Coach Mike Woodson acknowledged the unique nature of picking up a pair of W's in one day, while focusing on his young squad's continued push to earn an Eastern Conference playoff berth.

"They were both huge. It keeps us right in the hunt where we need to be," said Woodson. "Our guys hung in there. That 51 seconds [the official end of the December game] was a heck of a rush, us fighting to secure a win. I thought we made every play that we needed to make in that 51 seconds. They still had good looks at the bucket, but it rolled in our favor, which was kind of nice to see."

Woodson thinks Atlanta has a good shot of closing the deal for a playoff spot in the East. "We’re right there on the bubble. We gained some ground by winning two games in one night. We just have to build on this game. We have 20 games left and I don’t know what it’s going to even take to make the playoffs here in the East. I know we control our own destiny and we have to play playoff basketball these last 20 games."

Miami's Ricky Davis was reminded of another sport after the rare NBA "doubleheader."

"It was really weird playing two games in one day, stepping right into the end of one game, and then coming out and playing another right away," said Davis. "I guess this will be a memorable night because of the two games. I’ve never done this since I’ve been playing, so I guess this is how baseball must be like."