体坛英语新闻：Hawks dumps coach Woodson

NEW YORK, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Mike Woodson was given up as coach of the Atlanta Hawks on Friday after the team was swept out of the NBA playoffs by Orlando in the second round.

The Magic inflicted the most lopsided four-game series sweep in NBA history on the Hawks, prompting owners not to offer Woodson a new contract after his old one expired after six seasons in which the team won more games each year.

Woodson was 206-286 overall and after they managed only 13 victories in his first season had improved to 53 triumphs this season, the most by the Hawks since the 1996-1997 campaign.

While he had rebuilt the Hawks into a playoff club for the past three seasons, Woodson had only an 11-18 record with Atlanta in the playoffs.

Atlanta edged Milwaukee in seven games to reach the second round for the second consecutive season but the Magic swept out the Hawks by an average margin of 25 points a game.