Basketball Free For All

During a recent Suns-Jazz game back in January, Suns color announcer Eddie Johnson mentioned that Utah is one of the toughest places to play on the road. While this is merely one isolated example, it represents a common perception throughout the League and there are loads of anecdotes that mirror EJ’s comment. The notion of Utah as an elite home team is a perception that is worth investigating to determine whether it is actually true both historically and currently and also to examine the reasons for home court advantage in general. It is also relevant because Utah happens to be one of the two hottest teams in the League right now and is poised to make some noise in the playoffs.

Home court advantage is not exclusive to the NBA nor to basketball in general. It occurs in varying degrees in virtually all team sports that have an established arena as a team’s home base (basketball, baseball, football, hockey all come to mind). According to a study by a graduate students at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the NBA has the largest home court advantage out of the four major American sports leagues. In the NBA, the home team won 61 percent of the time, compared to 53 percent for the MLB, 55 percent for the NHL and 58 percent for the NFL.

Focusing in on the NBA, the Denver Nuggets actually owned the previous decade’s best home court advantage. During that period, the Nuggets had a home winning percentage of .643 and a road winning percentage of .352, which is a differential of .291 and can be considered fairly significant. It is also about three percent higher than the league average home winning percentage. So the Nuggets can be considered to have a strong home court advantage. But what are the causes of home court advantage in general?

General Causes of Home Court Advantage

In general terms, there are four main factors that feed into home court advantage in the NBA. They apply to different teams in varying degrees but the factors are inter-related in the sense that they feed into each other and are not completely distinct categories.

Crowd. It’s no secret the crowd can influence a game, whether it be by giving the home crowd an extra shot of energy when they need it most or by intimidating an opposing player at the free throw line into bonking one off the iron. Coaches often call timeouts based upon the crowd’s involvement in the game or their reaction to a play. Each team has a few players who can incite the home crowd through their thunderous dunks (Amare Stoudemire), ridiculous assists (Chris Paul), brutal rejections (Dwight Howard) or ridiculous shots (Kobe Bryant). Player interaction with the crowd is one of the main components of home court advantage in the NBA. With the fans right on top of the players, this most likely is a more significant factor than in baseball, for example, where there is greater separation between fan and athlete.

Familiarity and Confidence. All NBA facilities are different and have their own quirks and unique qualities. Some arenas are known for having unforgiving rims (Houston) while others are known for their awful visiting locker room (Detroit). Even stranger, two teams every season get to experience both home and road games in the same arena (Lakers/Clippers), which is probably unique among the other three major American sports leagues. At its simplest, players perform better in familiar environments. Their lockers, practice facility, bench, crowd, etc. all feed into boosting their confidence and giving them mental strength to overcome adversity and perform well under pressure.

Travel and Sleep. Playing at home means less travel time to get to the game. The road team (especially on the second game of back-to-backs) often arrives late and worn out from the grind of playing and then immediately traveling. Players on the road team, however, slept in their own bed the night before the game, spent time with their families and friends and drove their own cars to the game while listening to their favorite music. They arrive with a bounce in their step instead of groggy-eyed and sleep-deprived. Just small differences in the amount of rest a player gets can make a huge difference in his subsequent production on the court. That’s just pure science.

Home Cookin’. Whether you believe Tim Donaghy’s explosive allegations or not, it is undeniable that the referees give the home team the benefit of the doubt more often than not on close calls. In fact, it is actually expected from players when they play at home, akin to how players expect referees to call the game differently in the last two minutes than during the first 46. It’s something that is not overtly acknowledged but is a part of the game and definitely contributes to home court advantage. Also, it can be related to the crowd (the first factor) and their fervor and involvement in the game. Sometimes, even the threat of the home crowd unleashing the boo-birds can be enough to influence a close call in favor of the home team with the decision being a subconscious one.

Rocky Mountain Home Court Advantage

But what about the Utah Jazz? Do they currently own one of the League’s better home court records, as Eddie claimed? Or, is it simply a misperception based upon a historically good home record and fallaciously propagated?

Over the last few years, the Jazz have definitely been one of the League’s elite home teams. In 2006-07, they had an overall record of 51-31 (.622) and a home record of 31-10 (.756) In 2007-08, the Jazz were 54-28 overall (.656) and 37-4 at home (.902). Last season, they were 48-34 overall (.585) and 33-8 at home (.805). And this season, the Jazz are 30-18 overall (.625) and 21-6 at home (.778). The numbers seem to suggest that the Jazz’s home court advantage peaked in 2007-08 and that there has been a downward trend since then. For the Jazz, the crowd has historically been an integral part of their home court advantage, as the Jazz have been in the top six in attendance over the past few years and have an especially loud and rowdy bunch of fans.

But for both the Jazz and Nuggets, there is a more specific, environmental factor that helps reinforce their home court advantage: altitude. The Jazz play in Salt Lake City, which sits at an elevation of 4262 feet. The Nuggets play in Denver, the Mile High City, which lies at an elevation of 5279 feet. The Nuggets and Jazz have the advantage of training and playing at altitude for41 home games and countless practices. For the un-acclimated, exertion at altitude can cause an array of physical problems that lead to poor physical performance. In addition, it can prevent athletes from sleeping properly the night before a game, exacerbating the third general factor that influences home court advantage (travel and sleep). EJ was right about Utah’s home court advantage but it’s not unique to only the Jazz. It is the Rocky Mountain home court advantage and applies to Denver as well.

As mentioned before, Utah’s home court advantage has been exhibiting a slightly downward trend since the peak in the 2007-08 season. However, they still outperform the League’s average home court winning percentage (61 percent) by a significant margin and certainly justify being included in the discussion of teams with elite home records. The Nuggets’ home court advantage has been steady over the past decade as well. Both the Jazz and the Nuggets possess the Rocky Mountain home court advantage, but so what — why does it matter? This hasn’t helped either team win a championship, as both franchises have fallen short of the promised land season after season, despite their natural advantage.

However, the Rocky Mountain home court advantage provides the solution to their problems; they just need to harness it properly.

Simply look at the Denver’s seemingly improbable Western Conference Finals last season. Denver beat New Orleans 4-1 in the first round with the Nuggets having home court advantage in the series. Denver was undefeated at home (3 games) and split the two games on the road. In the second round, the Nuggets defeated the Mavericks 4-1 with the Nuggets again holding the home court advantage and again winning in the same manner. In the WCF, the Lakers held home court advantage and ended up winning the series 4-2 on their way to another championship banner to hang from the rafters in Staples Center. Denver’s home court advantage was essential to their success in the first two rounds and thus securing a top four seed should be both Denver’s and Utah’s primary goal for the regular season if they want any reasonable chance of making a deep postseason run. Without home court advantage in the playoffs, both Denver and Utah are most likely headed for a first or second round playoff exit and more frustration and disappointment.