NBA's Home-Court Edge Out of Hand

By JIM ARMSTRONG,
AOL
Posted: 2008-05-17 01:41:10
Filed Under: NBA
Sports Commentary

Did you ever notice, in those NBA ‘‘I Love This Game’’ commercials, the celebrity fans were always sitting courtside and pulling for the home team?


Well duh. Of course they love the NBA. In the NBA, the home team always wins, especially in the playoffs.

OK, not always, as in every single time. But last time I checked, 21 out of 23 was pretty close.

That was the track record, after Friday, of the home teams in the conference semifinals. Twenty-one out of 23. And frankly, most were blowouts that could have put a Starbucks addict to sleep.

What exactly is there to love about that? The NBA’s marketing machine would no doubt disagree, but this year’s playoffs are about as compelling as a Senate filibuster. And Senate filibusters only drag on for hours, not weeks, like some of these series.

Before we go any farther, I need to throw a little full disclosure your way. I’m an NBA fan, always have been. But even a pro hoops junkie would have to admit this stuff is all but unwatchable for a casual fan.

Going into the playoffs, I was excited about the prospect of a Lakers-Celtics retroseries. I was hoping, in the aftermath of the Tim Donaghy scandal, this postsason would enable people to reconnect with the league. I was looking for exciting games, competitive games, games that went down to the wire. You know, barnburners, cliffhangers, that kind of stuff.

Instead, it’s been like a scene out of "Groundhog Day." You pretty much know who’s going to win before the opening tipoff. (Hint: Given the price of gas these days, the team in the road jerseys shouldn’t bother showing up.)

The Pistons won Game 4 at Orlando before closing out the Magic to advance to the Eastern Conference finals and the Lakers won Game 6 in Utah to advance in the West. That’s it. Those are the only teams to win a road game in the conference semis. The Celtics haven’t won at Cleveland nor the Cavs in Boston, and the Spurs haven’t come remotely close to winning at New Orleans, losing by 18, 19 and 22 points while holding serve against the Hornets.

Talk about a tale of two teams. San Antonio in the first six games of the series was averaging 103 points a game at home and 82 on the road. New Orleans, meanwhile, is averaging 101 at home and 86 on the road.


Nothing out of the ordinary there. The Cavs were averaging 98 at home and 78 at Boston. The Jazz were averaging 114 at home and 104 at Los Angeles.

What gives? Why can’t the road teams in the NBA playoffs find a pulse? There are countless theories out there. They’re not as aggressive on the road as they are at home. They settle for jump shots instead of taking the ball to the rack. They don’t get as much sleep on the road as they do in their own beds.

Oh, and the officials don’t cut the road team any slack.

Imagine that. Someone questioning the officiating in the NBA playoffs. It has become a tradition in The Association. And no, it’s not just media types. Shaquille O’Neal and Rasheed Wallace have publicly questioned the integrity of the officiating in recent years, as has ex-Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy. And trust me, those are mere whispers compared to the grumbling that goes on when the note pads and microphones aren’t around.

In the aftermath of the Donaghy fiasco, the last thing the NBA needed was the home team winning 21 out of 23 in the conference semis. Or the home team in the Utah-Los Angeles series averaging 42 free throws a game to 25 for the road team.

I don’t happen to believe that NBA officials have an agenda. But there’s no denying the league has an image problem, one that is magnified every year in the playoffs. On one hand, you have the powers that be laughing at any notion of unbalanced officiating. On the other, you have that 20-1 record and players and coaches who routinely talk about makeup calls and getting a fair shake and officials they never want to see on the road.

Maybe, in the end, it comes down to human nature. Maybe NBA officials are just like college officials. Maybe they get intimidated by the home crowd. Maybe, in this Internet age of ours, in which anonymity has created a generation of tough talkers who like to get loud, the YouTubers and MySpacers in the seats are impacting the outcome of the game more than the NBA would like to admit.

All we can be sure of is this: When it happens night after night after night, it isn’t interesting to watch.

Jim Armstrong is a sports columnist for The Denver Post. Feel free to e-mail him at dontmissjim@aol.com.

2008 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2008-05-16 14:52:39
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tstir1995 09:58:34 AM May 18 2008

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Where does the NBA popularity come from? The development of STARS (selfish individual players) and the winning percentage of HOME TEAMS.
How can you explain a forty point swing between the Hornets or the Spurs home and road...same teams playing the same game.
Its OFFICIATING. The number of fouls called isnt as important as WHEN they are called, and WHO they are called on.
Two early fouls on Tim Duncan or Chris Paul and the games over.
Does Kobe ever get in foul trouble? Or LeBron James?
Wilt Chamberlain NEVER fouled out of a game, and yet he was a not so agile giant. Its all fixed baby.

tstir1995 09:56:32 AM May 18 2008

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Where does the NBA popularity come from? The development of STARS (selfish individual players) and the winning percentage of HOME TEAMS.
How can you explain a forty point swing between the Hornets or the Spurs home and road...same teams playing the same game.
Its OFFICIATING. The number of fouls called isnt as important as WHEN they are called, and WHO they are called on.
Two early fouls on Tim Duncan or Chris Paul and the games over.
Does Kobe ever get in foul trouble? Or LeBron James?
Wilt Chamberlain NEVER fouled out of a game, and yet he was a not so agile giant. Its all fixed baby.

cpbbfan 07:00:41 AM May 18 2008

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MWM - the reason why they have the scheduling they do is of course MONEY. That's why the 1st rd was stretched over 3 damn weekends - the more weekend games the better for them. They seemed ot have gotten better inthe 2nd rd, but why do they move up series if both teams win and clinch early - they've earned and deserve a little extra rest, like in most other sports.

cpbbfan 06:54:56 AM May 18 2008

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College is and has been more exciting and better to watch than the NBA for a while now. If hey wanted to, the refs could make a call on any set//series of plays. It's degenerated over the years too......

cpbbfan 06:52:28 AM May 18 2008

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Well I know the refs helped the Hawks in Gm 6 (never should have eve been a game 7) and the Cavs last game (Pierce's charge call was total garbage and Ray Allen had a basket stolen from him and forget hardly calling anything against Ilgauskas or Wallace or how about Lebron alwsys getting more free throw attempts than the Celtics team).

mvpsmb 04:13:35 AM May 18 2008

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Game 5 of the Lakers Jazz almost made me ill. I should've realized that when Kobe got his MVP no one would be allowed to defend him. If the NBA doesn't address and correct the issue of the officiating im going to stop watching. I think the refs love having their calls cheered and hate being booed and heckled. Or they're just corrupt.

mwm7997 01:19:28 AM May 18 2008

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hey vg...if you had seen any of the other celtic games, you woudl know that the celtics have been givin more than there share of "helpful" calls. Pierce has literally jumped in front of lebron on at least two occaisons in the exact situation and got a charge called on lebron, and everyone forget it was still a 6 point game at the time, its not like it was for the win. and talk about bad calls..your Lakers got some of the worst calls in history in their favor in game 5 agaisnt the Jazz, so you have no room to complain about refs

mwm7997 01:15:59 AM May 18 2008

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by the way vg, that so called "bad" call was nbothing compared to the calls in LA in game 5 so i wouldnt be so quick to point fingers, and by the way pierce has jumped in front of lebron on two occasions that cost the cavs posessesions in earlier games, so maybe before you make statements you shoudl watch the whole series and see how badly the celtics have been given more beneficial calls. and anyone who tries to say the cavs take way more free throws, its because they attack the hoop and the cletics do nothing but take jump shots

mwm7997 01:12:18 AM May 18 2008

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can anyone tell me why the spurs and hornets get 3 days off between games? every game in the eastern conference has been every other day in the second round...and the east finals start on tuesday...what a joke by the league, are they afraid that a team form the east could topple one of the "over-powering" west teams so they get more rest?

ranneyl 09:14:33 PM May 17 2008

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Whos is a better point guard? Alien or Predator?

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