Does having home-court advantage matter much in the NBA Finals?
San Francisco will serve as Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals.
Who has Home Court in NBA Finals
On Thursday, the Golden State Warriors will play host to the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Both teams are used to playing in the Finals, but this year’s tournament is set up a little differently than usual.
In the Western Conference, the Warriors snagged the No. 3 seed, while the Celtics snagged the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference. For the second year in a row, the Finals will not feature the top seed. However, this is only the fifth time since 2007 that this has happened.
Why isn’t Game 1 of the Finals being played in Boston since the Celtics are the higher seed than the Warriors? Here’s a look at the significance of home court advantage in the NBA Finals and how it works:
When it comes to the NBA Finals, how does Home Court Advantage get Assigned?
In the NBA Finals, home court advantage is awarded to the club with the better regular season record, rather than the higher seed, as it is in the first three rounds of the playoffs.
The Warriors finished the regular season with a 53–29 record, while the Celtics finished with a 51–31 record, giving the Warriors the right to host the first round series.
The Higher-Seeded team Almost Always has a better Record.
In the previous season, 2019 was the last time the higher seeded club began the Finals on the road. While the Warriors (57-25) were the Western Conference’s top seed, they faced the East’s No. 2 seed, the Raptors (58-24), on the road in Toronto for Game 1 of the Finals.
The previous club to do so was the 2006–07 Cleveland Cavaliers (50–32, No. 2 seed in the East), who faced the 58–24, No. 3 seed in the West San Antonio Spurs.
The format of the series remains the same throughout all four rounds of the playoffs, despite the fact that the process for choosing home-court advantage in the Finals is different.
The first-game host also has the privilege of hosting Games 2 and 5. Three of the first six games of a series are played on the home field of the team that lost the toss.
How often does the NBA Finals’ home Team end up Victorious?
In the NBA Finals, a home court advantage may make all the difference.
With the exception of the Orlando Magic, 53 of the 74 teams who started the NBA Finals at home went on to win the title.
When it comes to the NBA Finals, how often does the home Team take Game 1?
When the Finals begin, home court becomes even more of a distinct advantage.
A total of 57 (or 77% of the time) of the 74 teams who started the series at home won Game 1.
The odds of a home club winning Game 7 of the NBA Finals are.
Game 7 of the Finals is just as much of a home-court advantage as Game 1 is.
In 15 of the 19 Game 7s that have been played in the Finals, the home team has won. Only three teams in Finals history have won Game 7 away from home:
The Boston Celtics (1969 and 1974) the Washington Bullets (1978), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016).
