Ever wondered just how much of a boost teams get from playing in front of their home crowd during the NBA playoffs? It’s a big talking point whether the roar of the home fans really tips the scales in high-pressure games. We’ve gone deep into the stats, checking out each NBA team’s win/loss record at home during the postseason going back to 2013. Below we break down the numbers team by team and round by round to pinpoint exactly when home court advantage might give teams an edge. As teams and fans alike prepare for the first round of the full playoff field, let’s take a look at how much impact a hometown crowd can have on the most important games. 506214
For the purposes of our data we did not include the 2020 playoff tournament that was played entirely in the NBA Bubble located at Walt Disney World due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’re interested in using our data to help inform your wagers on this year’s playoff games, make sure to check out our best betting apps reviews to find the best offers and sportsbooks for you.
When does home court advantage matter most? i2i24
We’ll start off by stating the overall (and fairly obvious) result of our analysis: having home court advantage does in fact help in general. Since the 2013 playoffs 839 playoff games have been played on one of the team’s home courts. The home team won 509 of those games, a 60.67% winning percentage. Undeniably, it is advantageous for a team to play the most important games of the year in their own arena.
Now that that is out of the way, we delve into the round-by-round breakdown to see at what point in the playoffs playing on a team’s own court has the most impact.
While one might think that the NBA Finals would be where playing in front of your hometown fans would help the most, the championship round actually had the lowest home team win percentage of any round in the playoffs. While the home team does have an advantage, winning 54.39% of Finals matchups. That falls a full five percentage points lower than the next closest, which was the first round of the playoffs where the home team wins just under 60% of the time.
The Conference Semifinals are actually when it is most helpful for a team to be defending their own stomping grounds. In the second round of the playoffs the home crowd ends up being the happier fan base 63.64% of the time. The Conference Finals follows closely behind for second highest home win percentage at just over 61%.
Which teams play the best (and worst) at home? x3z35
While across the board the home team is more likely to win matchups in the playoffs, that rule didn’t hold true for every team in the league. Here we’ll examine which teams have the best and worst records at home in the postseason.
At the top of the list we have the Golden State Warriors who have won nearly 80% of their home playoff games since 2013. In the time period examined the Warriors were only swept at home during one postseason series: the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors. The top five is rounded out by the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, and San Antonio Spurs who have each won over 70% of playoff games played on their court since 2013.Â
On the bottom of the list we see the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic. Neither team has won a home playoff game since 2013. Unfortunately, neither team has had much of an opportunity to do so either. The two franchises have combined to host a total of six postseason games, losing all of them. The Chicago Bulls, who have played a more respectable 19 homes playoff matchups in the time examined, have the third worst record. The team once led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen has won just over one in every four postseason games held in their arenas. The Los Angeles Clippers have played the most tournament games of any team that has lost a majority of them. The Clips have won just over 46% of their home playoff appearances.
