Hawks 98, Heat 85: Lou Williams scored 18 of his 23 points in the final quarter and Jeff Teague had 25 points and four steals as host Atlanta defeated Miami to clinch the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.

DeMarre Carroll scored 17 points as the Hawks won for the fifth time in six games and eliminated the New York Knicks from contention. Mike Scott added 12 points and seven rebounds and Paul Millsap contributed 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Dwayne Wade returned from a hamstring injury to score 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting for the Heat, who slid back into a tie for first in the East with the Indiana Pacers. LeBron James tallied a game-high 27 points for Miami, which was just 9-of-19 from the free-throw line and 6-of-25 from 3-point range.

Atlanta held an 83-72 lead after Scott’s fast-break dunk with 6:09 remaining before the Heat crept within 88-80 on James’ basket with 2:04 to go. Williams scored the next seven points as the Hawks stretched it out to 15 with 41.8 seconds left and later finished off a 7-of-9 shooting performance with his fourth 3-pointer without a miss to help secure the franchise’s seventh straight playoff berth.

Wade hit all seven of his first-half shots and had 16 points as the game was knotted at 49 at the break. The Hawks opened up a nine-point lead in the third quarter before settling for a 69-62 advantage entering the final stanza.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Heat shot just 35.9 percent from the field in the second half after a blistering 61.8 success rate in the first half. … Atlanta racked up 13 steals and scored 29 points off 20 Miami turnovers. … Wade played 23 minutes after missing the previous nine games.