Daily NBA Fix 5-6-14: Second Verse Same As The First
By Phil Watson
Welcome to the Daily NBA Fix for Tuesday, May 6, the morning after the conference semifinals opened with a pair of road teams swiping home-court advantage.
When the NBA Playoffs opened on April 19, it was noteworthy that three of the four road teams that played on that first day were winners and road teams winning games was a theme throughout the first round. Home teams had a slight 26-24 advantage in the opening round.
The conference semifinals opened in the same fashion, with the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers taking home-court advantage from the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder, respectively, with convincing wins.
The Pacers, who had the best home record in the NBA at 35-6 this season, are now just 2-3 at home in the postseason—a disturbing trend.
The Thunder are similarly 2-3 at home in the playoffs after putting up a 34-7 home-court mark during the regular season, matching the Clippers for second-best in the league.
If nothing else, it should put the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs—hosting their own series openers on Tuesday night—on notice that this year’s playoffs are a different animal in terms of being able to maintain the home-court edge.
The Daily NBA Fix will do what it did all season long, deliver highlights, game capsules, the top and bottom five players and, yes, we’ll still be handing out the Goose Egg, Clean and Sober and Ironman awards. We’ll also have informational tidbits and a look at the daily lines for those who want to drop a buck or two on a wager.
Check out the highlights below from the night that was, then get into the game capsules (home teams in CAPS).