63-40. This was as good a first half as we saw by the Hawks in Game 1, with the one exception being the injury to Al Horford. (The report out of the locker room is a right ankle sprain, which is way better news than a potential knee injury. He will be reevaluated tomorrow.) We hope Big Al is ok, but Al or no Al Atlanta has thoroughly dominated Miami in every facet of the game so far. The Hawks have more assists, more rebounds, steals, alley-oops, better haircuts, higher credit scores...the whole shebang.

While everyone has contributed so far, special mention goes to the Hawks starting backcourt, as Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson have combined to outscore their counterparts for Miami (D-Wade and Mario Chalmers) by a combined 31-9. We've been waiting for JJ to break out in this series, and at this point the only thing that looks like it might keep him from his first 20-point performance will be the start of garbage time.

HAVING SAID THAT - this game ain't over. We saw in Game 4 that the Heat are capable of closing the gap in a hurry, so this is no time for the Hawks to rest on their laurels. Particularly with all the bumps and bruises being suffered by the home team, it would be especially nice for Atlanta to come out firing and press their advantage so they can get some rest for their top guns.

It's been a physical game so far, and tempers have flared several times. Let's hope for a clean second half and an easy Hawks win to put them one win away from a trip to the second round.