Leans:
*ATLANTA HAWKS (-4.5): Dallas is currently the 7th seed in the Western Conference right now and will play the Thunder at their current state. If they somehow win this game and Denver loses their next game, they will move to 6th and play the Los Angeles Lakers who have swept them 4-0 this season. The Lakers have too much size for the Mavs and they have no answer for the Lakers big. Look for the Mavs to force a first round series with the Thunder as they can slow down their transition game with Dirk and his halfcourt game and hope to play the younger, inexperienced Thunder. Dallas is clearly the better team than the Hawks and this line opened at Hawks -5 in most books tells me that Dallas will throw this game away for playoff seeding. This play will be locked in by gametime as long as the Hawks aren't benching any of their key players and the line remains ATL -4.5 or better.