NEW YORK -- In his first time on stage, Trae Young was already the star of the show.
And just like an actor on nearby Broadway, he closed his impressive debut performance with a bow, after making a long three-pointer in the final minute.
"Leading up to this game, I know where we are, I know there's a bunch of shows around this city. and I know what they do when the show is over," Young said.
Young closed it with 36 points and nine assists, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the New York Knicks 103-89 on Wednesday night in Game 5.
Clint Capela backed up his confident words from a day earlier with 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Hawks, who will play the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in their first trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals since 2016. That series begins Sunday.
Young never looked like a playoff rookie, hitting the winning shot with 0.9 seconds left in the opener and averaging 29.2 points and 9.8 assists.
The profane chants toward the point guard continued Wednesday, though less frequently than in Games 1 or 2. Young was never rattled by the fans, one of whom was banned after spitting on Young in Game 2.
Now he has silenced them for the summer.
"I texted him before the playoffs started and told him he's built for this time of the season with the confidence he brings to the floor, his skill level scoring the basketball and creating opportunities," Hawks Coach Nate McMillan said. "It's really tough to game-plan against him."
Julius Randle had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks to finish his disappointing first postseason. The winner of the NBA's Most Improved Player award shot 8 for 21 from the floor and finished 28 for 94 (29.8%) in the series.
Randle said he was proud of the team.
"It's tough for me to process that right now the way things ended, but we'll be back," he said.
Randle led the Knicks to a 41-31 record in their first season under Tom Thibodeau, with a pair of 40-point games during a three-game season sweep of Atlanta. But the Hawks were by far the better team in this series, with only a poor second half of Game 2 keeping them from a sweep.
That continued a strong surge for the Hawks, who went 27-11 after March 1 when Lloyd Pierce was fired and replaced by McMillan.
They won the two games in Atlanta easily and returned to New York confident they could close it out. Capela downplayed the Knicks' attempts to play physically, saying the Hawks could do that and also win the games.
Both coaches shrugged off the tougher talk but it seemed clear the players' emotions had risen. Words were exchanged after Taj Gibson's flagrant foul on De'Andre Hunter in the second quarter, and players had to be separated at halftime after the Knicks' Nerlens Noel and Atlanta's Solomon Hill bumped into each other as the teams were exiting the floor.
Noel, Randle and Hill were given technical fouls. Young made a free throw on one of them before play began in the third quarter to give Atlanta a six-point lead.
Randle then made a three-pointer to cut it to 53-50, but the Knicks would make only four more baskets the rest of the quarter. Nine consecutive points by the Hawks made it 62-50 when Bogdan Bogdanovic made a three-pointer, snapping Atlanta's 3 for 20 start behind the arc.
The margin remained at 12 after three, when Randle had seven field goals but seven turnovers at that point.
SIXERS 129,
WIZARDS 112
PHILADELPHIA -- Seth Curry scored a playoff career-high 30 points and Philadelphia beat Washington to end the series in five games, overcoming All-Star center Joel Embiid's absence because of a knee injury.
Tobias Harris added 28 points and teamed with Curry and Ben Simmons to carry the offensive load with Embiid out. Simmons had 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to keep the top-seeded 76ers in the hunt for their first championship since 1983.
Embiid is day to day with a small lateral meniscus tear in his right knee.
Embiid gave a sneak peek that the injury suffered in a Game 4 loss might not keep him out very long. The NBA MVP candidate had the crowd going wild when he hit the court for pregame warmups. He shot jumpers around the perimeter, fadeaways, even some free throws -- all without any sort of noticeable knee brace under his white leggings -- and put on a show that proved his absence might not last beyond Game 5.
Coach Doc Rivers, in his first season, said he expected Embiid to return in the postseason.
"I don't know when or how early," he said. "I'm hopeful. I think that's a better way of putting it."
JAZZ 126, GRIZZLIES 110
SALT LAKE CITY — Donovan Mitchell scored 26 of his 30 points in the first half and Utah advanced to the second round of the playoffs, beating Memphis in Game 5.
Mitchell also had 10 assists and 6 rebounds in 29 minutes, getting a little rest before facing the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Dallas Mavericks matchup.
Jordan Clarkson scored 24 points, Rudy Gobert had 23 points and 15 rebounds and Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 points to help power the top-seeded Jazz to their fourth consecutive victory. Even after a cool fourth quarter, the Jazz shot 53%.
The Memphis big three all played effectively on offense, but got little help from the supporting cast. Ja Morant finished his record-setting first playoff series with 27 points and 11 assists. Dillon Brooks also had 27 points, and Jonas Valanciunas added 18.
Mitchell capped Utah’s big first half with two contested 26-foot jumpers to make it 75-51 and bring the 13,000 fans to their feet.
MAVERICKS 105, CLIPPERS 100
LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic scored 42 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. hit two free throws with eight seconds left, and Dallas edged Los Angeles to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
It’s the third playoff series in NBA history — and first since 1995 — in which the road team won the first five games, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
The Mavs can close out their first series victory since winning the 2011 NBA championship with a win in Game 6 at home Friday.
Hardaway added 20 points. Doncic’s points were two off his career playoff high. He had a career-high 14 assists and added eight rebounds.
Paul George led five Clippers starters with 23 points and 10 rebounds after playing the fourth quarter with four fouls. Kawhi Leonard and Reggie Jackson each added 20 points.
At a glance
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Philadelphia 129, Washington 112
Philadelphia wins series 4-1.
Atlanta 103, New York 89
Atlanta wins series 4-1.
Utah 126, Memphis 110
Utah wins series 4-1.
Dallas 105, LA Clippers 100
Dallas leads series 3-2.
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Denver at Portland, 7 p.m.
Denver leads series 3-2.
Phoenix at LA Lakers, 9:30 p.m.
Phoenix leads series 3-2.
