Record: 53-28.

Today: At Dallas, 7 p.m.

TV/radio: FSH, ESPN; 610 AM, 850 AM (Spanish).

On Tuesday, the Rockets were given a detailed report of every playoff possibility for every team headed to the postseason. Finally, there would be no need to examine records, tiebreakers and NBA rules. It was all there to answer any question.

The Rockets barely glanced at it.

"I'm going to go home and have a paper airplane fight with my wife," Shane Battier said. "That's what I'm going to do with that piece of paper, because it means nothing to us. We have to go to Dallas. We have to play well. And we have to win."

The Rockets did later learn they won't be playing Utah, which lost Tuesday night to the Lakers, in the first round. But with four teams remaining as possible opponents, the Rockets say no matchup (or avoidance of a matchup) could be more valuable than securing home-court advantage for at least one round. Because they still can be seeded anywhere from second to fifth, the only way they can be assured of having a home-court edge in the first round is to win at Dallas tonight.

"I'm not thinking about avoiding anybody," coach Rick Adelman said. "If we win, we're going to be in pretty good shape. If we don't, we'll take the consequences."

With the Rockets having lost to the Jazz in the first round in 2007 and 2008, Shane Battier said he wants "to see some other cities in this world." But more important than visiting a locale besides Salt Lake City, the Rockets want their first-round foe to come to Houston.

Streaking at home

The Rockets have a six-game home winning streak and posted their best home record (33-8) since going 35-6 at Compaq Center in 1993-94, the first of their championship seasons.

If the Rockets lose in Dallas and the Spurs and Trail Blazers win at home, the Rockets would be the fifth seed and lose home-court advantage. If they win, they are the Southwest Division champions and seeded second or third.

"Well, it's hard to say," Yao Ming said when asked how valuable home-court advantage would be. "We already had it for two years in a row. If we have it this year, this year will be the third. Hopefully, this year will be different."

The Rockets have not done much with home-court advantage in recent seasons, losing twice at home in the 2005 and 2008 playoffs and losing Game 7 at home in 2007. That, however, is far from typical.

Teams with home-court advantage have won 77.2 percent of NBA playoff series since 1984. The success rate is even greater in the first round, with 78.2 percent of those series going to the team that opens at home.

Though the teams with home-court advantage by definition were better in the regular season and would seem to have an edge, home court has been crucial in later rounds, too. In the conference semifinals, teams with home-court advantage have won 79 percent of those series; the numbers are 70 percent in the conference finals and 76 percent in the NBA Finals.

Last postseason, the Celtics went 13-1 in Boston on the way to the championship.

"Last year showed the home-court teams are going to win," Ron Artest said. "If Boston didn't have home court, possibly they wouldn't have won. We're going to try to get home court as long as we can."

Little time to prepare

The advantage could be especially extreme on the first weekend this season, with the uncertainty about Western Conference matchups making it impossible to begin preparations for a specific opponent until Thursday.

"The way this is set up now, if you play on the road (tonight) and you have to play Saturday, that's tough," Adelman said. "We've been very good at home. I think that's a big advantage for us."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

SEEDING scenarios

How tonight's outcomes will determine the Rockets' finish in the West:

No. 2

if Rockets win at Dallas and Denver loses at Portland

No. 3

if Rockets win and Denver wins OR if Denver loses and San Antonio loses at home to New Orleans

No. 4

if Rockets lose, San Antonio wins and Portland loses OR if Rockets lose, San Antonio loses and Portland wins

No. 5

if Rockets lose, San Antonio wins and Portland wins

* - A first-round matchup between the Lakers (1) and Jazz (8) was assured with L.A.'s win over Utah on Tuesday night.