There’s a saying in American basketball that a playoff series doesn’t start until a team wins away from home. It doesn’t have to be true, as a series could end 4-3 with all teams winning at home, but it’s becoming more and more true. Especially since the pandemic, when matches were played without fans or the year after, with pavilions at half capacity, the court factor has been less and less important. Until this season, where the local teams have won more than 60% of the games in the playoffs. Playing in front of your fans is important again in the NBA.
Despite having been an atypical playoff, where seven of the 14 series that have been played to date have been won by the rival with the lowest seed, To achieve this, it has been key to become strong as a local. In the 81 games that have been played, the teams that played at home have won 49 to 32 losses (60.5% wins), the highest figure since 2018 when it exceeded 70%. Since 2020, when the NBA finals were held in a bubble at Disney, the winning percentage of local teams has been growing gradually until it exceeds sixty again, as is happening. Since 2013, that figure has not been reached in the regular season (1,229-752, 61.2%) and it has happened eight times so far this century.
On the contrary, in the playoffs with the best teams in contention, the number of local victories in the playoffs is higher. Up to four times since 2000 they have reached 70% wins at home and this time the figure is not that high, but it is beginning to get closer. Until Game 2 of the finals, Denver was the only unbeaten home team in these playoffs, with a 9-0 record. They have the best balance at home in the entire NBA in the fight for the ring, having won all the games against Minnesota, Phoenix and Lakers, before the visit of the Heat. For its part, Miami has missed two games at home, both in the conference finals, and is 6-2. After going 3-0 against the Celtics, they lost the fourth and sixth games at the Kaseya Center, the pavilion that will host the next two games of the finals against Denver.
There are those that are less efficient, or that had tougher rivals. Brooklyn and Clippers said goodbye in the first round without knowing the victory at home, Atlanta, Cleveland and Milwaukee finished with a balance of 1-2 and even the Celtics themselves, who fell one game away from reaching the finals, finished the postseason with more losses than home wins. It is the second year in a row that Boston has reached at least the conference finals and failed to have a positive record at home after going 6-6 last year. If the Celtics had maintained their 78% winning streak at the TD Garden, they would be playing the finals against Denver.
Because a playoff series doesn’t start until one of the two teams wins away from home, but once it happens, the objective of both should be to become strong in their pavilion. As in the three previous series, Miami comes out of the first two games with at least one win, having stolen the home court factor in the finals. And after doing the hard work, they have been able to close at home, where they have won 75% of their home games, Although Denver is not going to give up so easily: it also has a positive record away from home (4-3) and has won a game on the road in each series. We’ll see who can do more damage.
2023-06-07 18:39:53
#importance #court #factor #NBA #playoffs
