Deron Williams: 'Atlanta Hawks were better than us'

Deron Williams has admitted that the Brooklyn Nets lost to the "better team" in the first round of the NBA playoffs after being knocked out by the Atlanta Hawks.

The Eastern Conference's top seeds clinched a 111-87 win in game six to take a 4-2 series victory to set up a conference semi-final series with the Washington Wizards.

The point guard told ESPN: "They're just a better team than us right now. They've been together. They've figured out how to play consistently the same way. And I think that's what we're trying to do.

"We had moments where we just tried to do it on our own, and we're not very successful when we do that."

The Nets have not progressed beyond the conference semi-finals since 2003.