It’s a pretty safe bet one tenant of Philips Arena – the Atlanta Hawks – will bring playoff action to the arena this spring.

The Atlanta Thrashers? Their hopes of reaching the NHL playoffs are slim. But a few more wins like Saturday’s 4-3 overtime thriller over Florida at Philips could ignite a much-needed late-season surge.

The Thrashers watched a two-goal lead disintegrate in a three-minute span of the third period, but rallied with Andrew Ladd’s game-winning goal 25 seconds into overtime. Ladd scored twice, and newly acquired Blake Wheeler added two goals, including a tally 6:30 into the third to make it 3-1 Atlanta.

Florida rallied with a power play goal from Stephen Weiss at 7:58, and a goal from David Booth exactly three minutes later. But Chris Mason stopped the Panthers from there, recording 29 saves in the victory.

The Thrashers sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, seven points behind Buffalo for the eighth and final playoff spot with just 16 games left. Atlanta plays a critical game Wednesday at Carolina. The Hurricanes are one point behind Buffalo in ninth place. Toronto is 10th with 67 points.

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Down two games to none in the WNBA Finals, the Atlanta Dream hope their season does not end Thursday.

The Dream, two years removed from winning just four times as an expansion team, will need plenty of home support when the series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Thursday at Philips Arena. Atlanta finds itself down two games to none against a savvy Seattle Storm team that grinded out victories in the first two games in Seattle.

Sue Bird knocked down the game-winning jumper Sunday with 2.6 seconds left in Game 1, sparking the Storm to a 79-77 victory. Tuesday, the Storm held off the Dream 87-84.

Guard Angel McCoughtry was slowed by foul trouble and a nasty gash on her forehead in the first two games of this series. The Dream’s hopes begin with McDoughtry, who scored a league-record 42 points in the decisive Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against New York.

Seattle easily beat Atlanta in both regular-season meetings.

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Two new coaches will call the shots for the tenants of Philips Arena this winter.

The Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers both cut loose their coaches after the season, the Hawks firing Mike Woodson and the Thrashers letting go John Anderson.

Taking their place are Larry Drew and Craig Ramsay, two names that don’t really move the hype needle much for two franchises that could use a boost.

Drew spent six seasons under Woodson as an assistant, helping the Hawks rise from the ashes of a 13-win season to a team that’s made the Eastern Conference semifinals the past two springs. Drew spent 10 seasons as a player in the NBA and has been an assistant coach since 1992.

Ramsay played 14 seasons in the NHL and had brief head coaching stints in Buffalo (21 games in 1986-87) and Philadelphia (53 games across two seasons from 1999-2001). In the Thrashers, Ramsay inherits a franchise that’s played four playoff games in 10 years (winning none), but a roster that has been overhauled by a bevy of offseason moves.

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Finishing up a 4-1 homestand in soaring fashion, the Atlanta Hawks welcomed in the NBA’s hottest team Friday night and promptly dispatched it with ease.

The Hawks’ 103-89 victory over Charlotte – which came in having won six in a row – wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Atlanta totally dominated in the first and third quarters, and would’ve won by a much larger margin were it not for short lulls in the second quarter and fourth quarter.

Five Hawks scored in double figures, led by Jamal Crawford. The leading candidate for NBA sixth man of the year, Crawford came off the bench to score 24 points, hitting five 3-pointers, with five assists and two blocked shots. Al Horford (23 points), Joe Johnson (19 points), Josh Smith and Marvin Williams (14 points each) also hit double figures in scoring, and five Hawks had four or more assists each.

Now Atlanta looks ahead to a big week, starting with a two-game Texas road swing through Houston and San Antonio. After returning to Philips Arena to play Boston, Atlanta travels to Orlando. Atlanta currently sits ahead of Orlando in the Southeast Division and just behind Boston for second place in the Eastern Conference.

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