Play on Atlanta at 8:05 ET.  Both of these teams can alter their respective playoff position with a win Thursday night, but the Mavericks figure not to care as either way they will be on the road as a lower seed, playing either the Lakers or Oklahoma City.  Further creating an air of indifference is the fact Dallas has been off since Saturday when they lost a third straight road game, 93-83 at Chicago.  Atlanta, meanwhile, can earn home court advantage for their first round playoff series with Boston if they win here and considering the way the Hawks have played of late, they are in good position to cover this relatively low number.  Atlanta comes in having won four of five, only losing in the final seconds to the Knicks.  They are 22-10 straight up this season at Phillips Arena while Dallas surprisingly has a terrible road record for the year at 13-19.   Atlanta is our **LATE NBA UPDATE**

04/26/2012 10:24 AM