Food For Thought

Here’s an interesting stat:

There are only 8 real title contenders.  (I exclude the Knicks on purpose because we haven't seen them play with the Billips, Melo, Amare trio, and they’ll be on the road every series).  Below are their home records to date.  Notice that every teams winning percentage at home is ridiculous, much better than on the road.  This is not science this is basketball.  The MOST home losses of these teams is 9.  The LEAST road losses is 8.

Spurs – 26-2

Celtics – 25-5

Heat – 21-5

Mavs – 22-8

Bulls – 26-4

Lakers – 20-8

Thunder – 20-8

Magic – 21-9

More interestingly, notice that the Heat have ONLY played 26 home games compared to 28 and 30 from all the other teams.  This is because the league wanted to showcase their new, superstar trio early on in the year.  That means that the Heat have 2 to 4 more home games in their last 24 games than the rest, AND 4 more than any of the teams in the East.  This bodes well for them going into the last month of the season, and for the Heat to lock up the number 1 seed in the East, and perhaps throughout the playoffs if the Spurs slip or don’t make it to the finals.  We’ll have to see how this plays out, but after going 9-8, the Heat have had the best record since, and should finish the season that way as well due to this home court advantage.

Imagine if they didn’t have that horrible stretch where they had to figure out their chemistry, if they did have a healthy Haslem and Miller all year, and if they didn't face such a hostile environment every time they played on the road.  I may be getting ahead of myself, or they may win 70 games next season.  Something to think about.