A Boston judge this afternoon lifted the injunction he issued earlier in the week that had stopped the majority of Hawks owners from removing Steve Belkin as the team's NBA governor.

In a mid-afternoon ruling, Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Allan van Gestel indicated that he dissolved the injunction because circumstances had changed since he granted it on Tuesday. The change: NBA commissioner David Stern approved Belkin's removal on Thursday.

The judge cautioned in the ruling that "to complete Belkin's removal" the other owners "now must comply strictly with the requirements" for removal in their partnership agreement. He said this includes written notice of a removable act and five business days to rescind the act.

The Hawks owners seeking to remove Belkin were still reviewing the ruling late this afternoon. They said earlier that if the injunction were lifted, they would move quickly to remove Belkin as governor, install Michael Gearon Jr. as his replacement and complete the trade with the Phoenix Suns for guard Joe Johnson.