Will the OKC Thunder miss their home floor in the NBA playoffs?

The current Thunder thrives on the road

The Thunder are looking to finish a surprisingly strong year even stronger by finishing with a top-5 seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket playing in the league’s bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.

With the Thunder’s reliance on young players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder, one might think they’d need to be on their home floor this postseason against the best of the West to find success.

However, this regular season’s results say otherwise.

Before entering the bubble, the Thunder were 19-5 on the road since losing their first six games outside of Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Including their first six games in the bubble, the team boasts a 21-13 road record — good for third-best in the West.

However, the Thunder did see a dropoff in scoring before coming to Orlando.

The team averaged 111 points per game at home and 108 points per game on the road.

There are similar, subtle dips on the Thunder’s shooting percentage from the field and free-throw line when on the road.

In their last true road game, the Thunder snuck by the Boston Celtics at TD Garden with a 105-104 win that showed the team can handle pressure from a legitimate crowd in a close game against quality competition.

Chris Paul had 28 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Thunder, while Dennis Schroder added 27 points and six assists in the win.

Schroder has performed especially well on the road this season — posting a higher true shooting percentage and higher scoring average when away from OKC.

He’s expected to miss the start of the playoffs after leaving the bubble for the birth of his child, but the team will be happy to have him back should they make it far enough.