The importance of winning on the road

[txsting]

Some other post on the board got me interested about road records, and how that correlates to success in the playoffs. Specifically, what's the worst road record that an NBA champ has ever had? Our Hawks are 14-22 (.389). I found the research done for me in a blog (http://thepaintedarea.blogspot.com/2007/02/road-to-finals_22.html), which I will quote here. The short answer is that you need to be at least a .500 road team to have a legit chance.

I looked at the road records for NBA Finals participants for the last 20 years ('87-'96), and below is a few pertinent highlights:

1) No team has ever won a title in the last 20 years with a losing road record.

2) No Western Conf. Champ has ever had a road record under .500; The '04-05 Spurs had the worst record at 21-20. This is not good news for the Lakers, who are currently 11-16 on the road. Although, they had some injuries this year, but then again the '04 Lakers had their own injury issues & still had a winning road record.

3) Only 2 teams have ever made the Finals in last 20 years with a road winning percentage under .400--the '99 Knicks (.320) & the '02-03 Nets (.390)

4) The '02-'03 Nets had the worst road record for any Finals participant in a regulation 82 game season, 16-25. The Sixers were the only East team that had a winning road record that year. As everyone bemoans the lackluster East this year, don't forget it was not much better in the early 2000s, if not worse. That Nets' team would have struggled to get out of the Western 1st round in '03.

5) The 7 East Conf Champs with losing road recs: '87 Celts (20-21); '88 Pistons (20-21); '95 Magic (18-23); '99 Knicks (8-17); '00 Indy (20-21); '02 Nets (19-22); '03 Nets (16-25)

6) The team with the worst road record to win a NBA title: tie--04-05 Spurs & 05-06 Heat (21-20).

[buckeye242424]

Some other post on the board got me interested about road records, and how that correlates to success in the playoffs. Specifically, what's the worst road record that an NBA champ has ever had? Our Hawks are 14-22 (.389). I found the research done for me in a blog (http://thepaintedarea.blogspot.com/2007/02/road-to-finals_22.html), which I will quote here. The short answer is that you need to be at least a .500 road team to have a legit chance.

I looked at the road records for NBA Finals participants for the last 20 years ('87-'96), and below is a few pertinent highlights:

1) No team has ever won a title in the last 20 years with a losing road record.

2) No Western Conf. Champ has ever had a road record under .500; The '04-05 Spurs had the worst record at 21-20. This is not good news for the Lakers, who are currently 11-16 on the road. Although, they had some injuries this year, but then again the '04 Lakers had their own injury issues & still had a winning road record.

3) Only 2 teams have ever made the Finals in last 20 years with a road winning percentage under .400--the '99 Knicks (.320) & the '02-03 Nets (.390)

4) The '02-'03 Nets had the worst road record for any Finals participant in a regulation 82 game season, 16-25. The Sixers were the only East team that had a winning road record that year. As everyone bemoans the lackluster East this year, don't forget it was not much better in the early 2000s, if not worse. That Nets' team would have struggled to get out of the Western 1st round in '03.

5) The 7 East Conf Champs with losing road recs: '87 Celts (20-21); '88 Pistons (20-21); '95 Magic (18-23); '99 Knicks (8-17); '00 Indy (20-21); '02 Nets (19-22); '03 Nets (16-25)

6) The team with the worst road record to win a NBA title: tie--04-05 Spurs & 05-06 Heat (21-20).

Interesting post. I can only hope that we can prove the numbers wrong and make the finals. I just want to win a playoff series!!

[txsting]

Interesting post. I can only hope that we can prove the numbers wrong and make the finals. I just want to win a playoff series!!

Yeah, there's no doubt that we could make some sort of playoff run if certain things fall just right. We have the ability to hold serve at home, so I'm expecting any series we play in to be a drawn out battle.

I think that this information helps me to set the bar about my expectations for next year. I mean, our home record is right there with the elite teams. What makes a team bad on the road? I think some people would say it's just about experience. If that's so, then even if we have roughly the same team coming back next year, I'll expect the same home record, and an improved road record. You can make the argument that it would be prudent to give this team another year to see how it continues to mature before looking for a big trade in order to try and get over the hump.

Over the last three years, we really haven't improved the road record very much - it's mostly the home record going up. In the previous two years, we won 12 road games each time, and this year we're sitting on 14. Next year, I'll be looking for 33 home wins (~80%) and 21 road wins (%50); or 54-28 overall. A first "true" year of contention, assuming we hold the team together. I'll pull this post back out in August when people actually give a crap about next year.