Facing elimination, the Brooklyn Nets travel home to Barclays Center to take on the Chicago Bulls, and as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post noted, the odds are heavily stacked in their favor — a home team down 3-1 is a robust 49-19 in Game 5’s.
Home sweet home, most teams would say. But should Brooklyn? The numbers are a bit troubling.
Unfortunately for the Nets, their home-court advantage is among the worst in the league. Per 100 possessions, Brooklyn is only 1.7 points better at home than on the road, a margin that’s only better than one team — the 20-62 Orlando Magic, the team with the league’s worst overall record. Other than the Atlanta Hawks, every other team in the league has a “home-court advantage” of 3.6 points per 100 possessions or better. (The league average is 7.2, meaning the average team is 7.2 points per 100 possessions better at home than on the road.)
It’s worth noting that a better “home-court advantage” in this sense doesn’t automatically mean a better team. The second-best team in terms of HCA when measured this way is the Charlotte Bobcats, who were just one game better than the Magic.
But it doesn’t bode well for Brooklyn, who could desperately use some home cooking tonight.
Statistical support provided by NBA.com.
