I have always subscribed to the belief that home court in the NBA is worth more than home ice in the NHL.
This year the stats support that theory significantly.
In the 2016 playoffs, NBA home teams are a whopping 36-16 after the Toronto Raptors 96-92 Thursday overtime victory over the Miami Heat.
There is a different picture in the NHL with the home side just .500 at 31-31 following Thursday’s overtime action in both games.
In addition, the Golden State Warriors are 5-0 on home court in the post-season to go along with a 39-2 mark in the regular season (44-2 overall).
The San Antonio Spurs are 43-2 at home, which includes 40-1 in the regular season and 3-1 in the playoffs.
By comparison, the best NHL regular season home record belonged to the Washington Capitals at 29-8-4, yet the Caps are just 3-2 in the playoffs on home ice (32-10-4 overall).
Want more data?
29 of the 30 NBA teams posted a better home record than on the road.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were the only team that played better away and that was by the slightest of margins.
The Timberwolves were 14-27 (home) and 15-26 (road).
There were no less than six NHL teams with better road records, including the Vancouver Canucks (15-21-5 home) and (16-17-8 road).
San Jose was much better outside of the Shark Tank.
The Sharks were road warriors (28-10-3), yet they were under .500 on home ice (18-20-3).
In the playoffs, the Sharks are 3-1 on home ice and 3-2 on the road after that triple overtime 4-3 loss in Nashville.
All teams and athletes prefer playing at home particularly in the playoffs when the stakes escalate.
I’ve always had the opinion the NBA provides the biggest home advantage, followed by (in this order) the NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball.
Results in the 2015-16 season re-affirm the significant benefit NBA teams enjoy to playing in front of their own fans.
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Here’s an update on the NHL and NBA playoffs in terms of competitiveness with each league having completed eight best of seven first round series.
NHL fans watched two series that needed the entire seven games.
There’s also three series that took six games and three series determined in five.
The NHL had no first round sweeps and there will not be any four straight in round two.
In fact, two of the Conference semi-finals (Dallas and St. Louis plus San Jose and Nashville) are already guaranteed to go a minimum of six games.
The NBA also had two series that took the full seven games, but two series went six games, another two were over in just five and the first round had a pair of sweeps (San Antonio over Memphis and Cleveland over Detroit).
Furthermore, the higher seed with home court advantage won seven of the eight NBA first round match-ups.
Portland, a #5, did knock off #4 LA Clippers in six, but the Clippers played the last two games of the series without their two best players (Chris Paul and Blake Griffin) who were injured.
In the NHL, there were three lower seeds (San Jose, Nashville and the NY Islanders) that advanced to round two.
Numbers can and often are twisted, but trends have shown that the NHL is less predictable than the NBA.
However, when the Conference Finals begin this month the intrigue and drama will heighten which enhances the entertainment in both leagues.
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I have often wondered why goalies are not selected higher in the WHL Bantam Draft especially since they play for the most important position.
For the first time ever, the Prince George Cougars selected a net-minder with their first round pick in the 2016 Draft.
Taylor Gauthier of Calgary went 9th overall to the Cougars.
The only goaltender ever selected earlier in a WHL Bantam Draft was somebody you may have heard of: Carey Price (7th overall in 2002 to the Tri-City Americans).
Gauthier comes with excellent credentials after being named the Top Goaltender of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League (South) in each of the past two seasons.
There is a belief that goalies develop later than forwards or defencemen which can make their adjustment more of a gamble to teams once they turn 16.
The Cougars have had good goalies in the past but never one that rose to the top of the league.
It’s far too early to suggest that Gauthier will handle the pressure to one day become the WHL’s best at his position, but based on his resume the Cougars took a chance that was well worth the risk.
From the Quote Rack:
Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon has been suspended 80 games for using a banned substance. So it seems that Marlins batting coach Barry Bonds is already having an impact.
Contributors Marc Ragovin and Eric Washington
The NY Jets have now drafted 11 quarterbacks since 2000. So guess 11 wrongs also don’t make a right.
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
Donald Trump plans to attend the Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan fight. I guess the winner will be his running mate.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Queen Elizabeth recently turned 90. She has been sitting on the throne for 64 years. No official word on how many times the seat has been replaced.
Contributor TC Chong of Vancouver
And in case you missed it:
British soccer pro Callum Camps was distracted during a match because he’d left his car’s headlights on and had to find someone to turn them off. After that, he played lights out.
Contributor RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. He also is the 94.3 radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games. His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller