ATLANTA -- The Milwaukee Bucks, playing without two starters, Sunday defeated one of the hottest teams in the NBA entering the playoffs to earn the right to play the team with the league's best record.
Milwaukee used an 8-0 run in the final two minutes to beat the Atlanta Hawks 96-92 in the deciding game of their opening-round series and advance against the Detroit Pistons.
Atlanta ended the regular season by winning nine of its last 10 and had beaten the Bucks in all six regular season games. Detroit, which swept the Boston Celtics in its opening-round series, went 63-19 in the regular season.
Game 1 of the best-of-seven series will be Tuesday in Pontiac, Mich.
Ricky Pierce scored 10 of his 25 points in the final period for Milwaukee, which played without leading scorer Terry Cummings or starting guard Paul Pressey because of injuries.
'We have a lot of confidence in ourselves,' said Pierce, who scored 111 points in the five-game series. 'A lot of people were counting us out. Detroit has a great team and we have to control the tempo -- just like we did against Atlanta.'
The Bucks, who lost home-court advantage to Atlanta in the closing weeks of the season and again Friday when the Hawks evened the series 2-2, rallied from an 86-85 deficit with 2:51 left. Milwaukee scored the next 8 points and led 93-86 with with 1:22 left.
The Hawks hit a pair of 3-pointers in the closing 1:11, one by Doc Rivers and the other by Moses Malone to close to 95-92 with 43 seconds left. Malone finished with 25 points for Atlanta.
The Bucks turned the ball over while still ahead by 3 points and 16 seconds remaining. Dominique Wilkins, who finished with 22 points, missed a 3-point shot with eight seconds remaining and Bucks guard Jay Humphries sealed the upset when he sank 1 of 2 free throws.
'We had a lot of chances, we just didn't put them away,' said Rivers. 'This really hurts.'
Cummings injured his ankle in Game 4 and did not make the trip to Atlanta. Pressey missed the entire series due to a dislocated shoulder.
The Bucks jumped to a 13-4 lead and never trailed at the end of any period.
However, the Hawks came from 9 down to just 2 back at the end of the first quarter and the score was tied 44-44 at halftime after Fred Roberts scored at the halftime buzzer. Roberts finished with 18 points for Milwaukee.
The Bucks fell behind by 8 points midway through the third quarter, but battled back to take a 73-70 lead into the final period when center Paul Mokeski hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The final quarter was close with Atlanta taking its final lead, at 86-85, on a Rivers' basket with three minutes to go.
'I have to praise our players for the courage it took to overcome one obstacle after another,' said Bucks Coach Del Harris. 'Every guy on our team played his heart out.
'Now, we must prepare for Detroit (which the Bucks beat in four of six games during the regular season) and everybody knows that's no easy task,' Harris said. 'We hope Pressey and Cummings both will be able to play in that series. But, just like today, we will play with what we've got.'
Hawks Coach Mike Fratello congratulated the Bucks.
'They were well prepared and came through short-handed,' he said. 'They really stuck to their game plan. There were four categories that hurt us. We missed 13 free throws, our fast-break opportunities were poorly converted at critical times, our shot selection, and we had too many defensive breakdowns.
'I hope we can learn from this,' added Fratello, who has not gotten a team past the second round of the playoffs despite winning 50 or more games four years in a row. 'Today, the Bucks were very, very good.'
