After a tough defeat on the road their last time out, the Mavericks look much better today on their home court. They have a bit of a cushion as they currently lead the Hawks 93-81. If the Mavericks keep playing like this, they'll bump their record up to 46-30 in no time. On the other hand, the Hawks will have to make due with a 36-41 record unless they turn things around (and fast). Atlanta Hawks @ Dallas Mavericks Current Records: Atlanta 36-40, Dallas 45-30 The Hawks have quite the challenge ahead of them as they're expected to be blown off the court on Thursday. Having just played yesterday, they will head out on the road to face off against the Dallas Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. ET at
American Airlines Center. The Hawks are strutting in with some offensive muscle, as they've averaged 119.1 points per game this season. On Wednesday, the Hawks beat the Pistons 121-113. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Atlanta. Jalen Johnson was nothing short of spectacular: he dropped a triple-double on 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists. His performance made up for a slower contest against the Bulls on Monday. Meanwhile, after a string of seven wins, the Mavericks' good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They fell to the Warriors 104-100. Dallas didn't live up to their potential and found themselves falling short of the advantage oddsmakers thought they had coming into the game. Luka Doncic put forth a good effort for the losing side as he dropped a triple-double on 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. The matchup was his sixth in a row with at least 30 points. Atlanta is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 36-40 record this season. As for Dallas, their loss ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 45-30. This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: The Hawks haven't given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 12.5 turnovers per game. However, it's not like the Mavericks (currently ranked fifth) struggle in that department as they've been averaging only 11.8. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. The Hawks came up short against the Mavericks in their previous matchup back in January, falling 148-143. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Doncic, who shot 8-for-13 from long range and dropped a double-double on 73 points and ten rebounds. Now that the Hawks know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check CBSSports.com after the match to find out. Dallas is a big 11.5-point favorite against Atlanta, according to the latest . The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Mavericks as a 11-point favorite. The over/under is 230.5 points. See for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine's advanced computer model. . Dallas has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Atlanta.