I know it's the regular season and it might not say much but we are 4th in road record behind every team with a better overall record so Atlanta, Memphis and GS. The flipside to this is that we one of the worst home records among play-off teams in the West. So my question is two fold: 1. Is hca really that important given our personal home and road record? 2. Do you feel confident if we were to start without it? I believe hca is important though it has not done much for us in the last few series, since we got screwed on several big plays at home. The last series we won we started on the road and with our record and maybe less pressure to win that 1st game, it could easily turn out to our advantage to start on the road. Given the competition though, I prefer home court but I would feel just as confident on the road.
Home court advantage is important to the Rockets for a number of reasons. First, the Rockets are still on the way up and they need to establish as a group and organization that they are an upper tier team. They are not the Spurs that have been a top seed as a group, or the Thunder that have won 60 games and made the finals as a team. This Rockets teams needs to prove something to themselves, and being the #3 seed will be a real tangible improvement over last year, especially with Howard missing most of the season. I think the Grizzlies have the #2 seed wrapped up. They only need to be .500% to hold off the Rockets. That loss to the Jazz is going to haunt the Rockets. Second, it is important because of who they potentially face in the playoffs. The Spurs are not going to end up the 6th seed, they could move up to 3rd or 4th. Contrary to whatever one else seems to think, I think the Rockets would beat the Clippers in the first round. That Clippers team is a mess. They are mentally weak, they are without Crawford and they are the one team that I can say for certain that is mentally more fragile than the Rockets.
Against teams with winning records, we are 11-9 at home and 6-10 on the road. (We have an overall losing record 17-19 against good teams--scary thought for the playoffs.) If the regular season is any indication, HCA is important for us. I think historically, HCA is extremely important for Game 7. So the team without HCA at the beginning of the series would want to win the series before it got to the seventh game.
hca is important but you have to be able to win on the road if you're trying to go far in the playoffs.
The other consideration is how important is it for the opposing team. There are always teams to whom you do not want to give HCA.
Who does not believe hca is important? Last year all home teams closed the series at home in western conference. Maybe I am wrong, but it is safe to say that almost all home team closed the series at home since I have not done a search for this.
Calm down, it's a discussion duke. All good points, especially that you do not want to give certain teams HCA! San Antonio is one of them. Portland and LAC, I don't see a clear advantage.
what heypartner said. It's largely what is important to the other team, not really about Rockets taking advantage of our home court advantage since we have none. Rowdies try, and a few fans do give genuine effort, but REAL TALK: Out of all the Western Conference play off teams, Houston easily has the worst home game atmosphere in terms of fans that give a damn. We don't sell out games, and if we do then we have 60% lower bowl attendence for the 1st quarter...we might gradually edge into the 90% close to half time. Mad Max said "to hell with our fans. we're in the playoffs and can't sell out the stadium". Look at last year's playoff highlights and look at the home games and highlights from the 1st-2nd quarter. Our homecourt in the 1st quarter is essentially the opponent's 6th man. But, it's the lesser of 2 evils compared to giving the opponent their rabid home audience to pump them up. That's just Houston. We'll have "get there early - stay late" 100% in their seats and twice as many in the parking lots for a last game of an 0-15 football team or a preseason game, but we can't support a contending bball squad. It's just the way it is.
It is as important as it has ever been...perhaps more so The West playoff teams are very close. Absolutely do not want to play a game 7 on the road....and there are likely to be several game 7's this year.
QUOTE=LabMouse;9637981]Who does not believe hca is important? Last year all home teams closed the series at home in western conference. Maybe I am wrong, but it is safe to say that almost all home team closed the series at home since I have not done a search for this.[/QUOTE] Teams with HCA went 6-1 in the west playoffs last year. In games where home team was facing elimination, home team went 7-2 5 of the 7 series were closed by the team who hosted elimination game
This article was a little bit premature. As of today, home teams are winning 57.5 percent of their games, and only Brooklyn has a better road record than home record. Since the NBA went to 16 teams in the playoffs, 30 of the 31 champions have been a 3 seed or higher. HCA likely plays a role in that.
Jackson's quotes are kind of hard to understand. The Charlotte games were in the regular season, and the loss at home took place 3 days after the blowout in North Carolina. As for the playoffs, the Bulls were 10-0 at home and 5-3 on the road. Seem like a bit of an advantage.
The article is focused on the trend. Of course the home team still will always have a higher winning % overall than the road team, otherwise there will not be any home court advantage. But the trend clearly indicating that the advantage is becoming smaller as compare than before. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe last year, in the first round, its a NBA record for the most road win ever in a playoff round. So the question remain : do teams really need to kill themselves in the last couple weeks to fight for the home court, or maybe resting their players or even target for certain spots for your playoff opponents will be a better strategy.
Last year the Spurs went 11-2 at home in the playoffs, and 5-5 on the road. The Heat, who were a 2 seed, went 8-2 at home and 5-5 on the road. HCA doesn't just give you home games that you have a better chance to win, it also means that you will likely play more games at home.
Going back to 2004 & years the Rockets made the playoffs: 2015: Home: 26-10 Road: 20-13 2014: Home: 33-8; 1-2(POR) Road: 21-20; 1-2(POR) 2013: Home: 29-12; 1-2(OKC) Road: 16-25; 1-2(OKC) 2009: Home: 33-8; 3-0(POR); 2-1(LAL) Road: 20-21; 1-2(POR); 1-3(LAL) 2008: Home: 31-10; 1-2(UTA) Road: 24-17; 1-2(UTA) 2007: Home: 28-13; 3-1(UTA) Road: 24-17; 0-3(UTA) 2005: Home: 26-15; 1-2(DAL) Road: 25-16; 2-2(DAL) 2004: Home: 27-14; 1-1(LAL) Road: 18-23; 0-3(LAL) Home: 13-11 Road: 7-19
In the last 10 years, 39 out of 40 teams who advanced to the conference finals have had HCA in the first round.
It would help this year since we do have an adequate bench and less weak type players like Lin and Parsons.
