WASHINGTON: Atlanta advanced to the NBA Eastern Conference finals for the first time when an apparent tying basket on the buzzer was ruled out, giving the Hawks a 94-91 win at Washington on Friday and a 4-2 series victory.

Also celebrating a breakthrough appearance in the Final Four of the playoffs was Golden State, which beat Memphis 108-95 to reach the Western Conference decider for the first time since 1976.

Washington’s Paul Pierce, who sank the buzzer-beating winner in Game 3 of the series, looked like he had pulled off another stunning long bomb to tie the scores as time expired, raising his arms in triumph as the home crowd roared.

However, a review of the play showed he released the ball a fraction of a second after the clock ticked over to zero, and the basket was not allowed to stand.

Atlanta’s Kyle Korver, the nearest defender to Pierce when he made the shot, feared the worst as the ball swished through the net.

“It went in and it’s just like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. That did NOT just happen,’” Korver said, shaking his head. “I thought he got it off. I was getting ready for overtime. And then ... you’re like, ‘Heeeeyyyy! All right! We’ll take it!’“

DeMarre Carroll, who scored a playoff career-high 25 points for the Hawks, shared the relief.

“I was about to cry,” Carroll said. “I said, ‘Not again.”

Pierce, who indicated after the game that he might not come back for an 18th NBA season, said: “A lot of times I deliver, (a) lot of times I didn’t. But I’m always willing and ready.”

After trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, the No. 1 seed Hawks won three straight games. Now Atlanta will host Cleveland in Game 1 of the conference finals Wednesday.

It’s the Hawks’ first trip to a conference final since the NBA realigned into conferences in 1970-71. The team had not won two playoff series in a single year since moving to Atlanta for the 1968-69 season.

Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap both added 20 points for Atlanta.

“I still feel, and I know our guys feel, we should have won this series,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.

Washington’s John Wall, playing with a broken left hand that forced him out of Games 2, 3 and 4, attacked the rim as if completely healthy and finished with 20 points, 13 assists and six rebounds.

Asked what he might have happened in the series if he had not been injured, Wall replied: “Only God knows how different it would have been.”

Bradley Beal scored 29 points, including a baseline jumper to cap a 9-0 stretch and give Washington an 88-87 lead with a little more than 3 1/2 minutes left.

“It’s frustrating. It’s depressing. It’s sad,” Beal said. “It’s probably every synonym of ‘sad’ you can think of.”

Golden State’s Stephen Curry scored 32 points, including a 62-footer to end the third quarter, as the Warriors won the deciding Game 6 at Memphis.

The Warriors advanced with some of the best shooting in the NBA postseason since 1985, becoming the first team since that year to hit 14 or more 3s in three consecutive playoff games. Curry was 8 of 13 from beyond the arc as the Warriors knocked down a playoff-best 15 3-pointers, closing out Memphis with their third straight win.

Curry, who had 10 assists, had the shot of the night after Andre Iguodala blocked Jeff Green’s shot near midcourt. Curry grabbed the loose ball and beat the buzzer from the Grizzlies’ 3-point line for a 76-68 lead.

Klay Thompson had 20 points for Golden State and Draymond Green added 16.

The Warriors will play the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Houston Rockets series — currently locked 3-3 — in the conference finals. The conference finals will start Tuesday at Golden State.

Marc Gasol led Memphis with 21 points and 15 rebounds