NBA standings ordered by home record: Which team really has a home court advantage? 

Western Conference NBA standings ordered by home record.

1) Oklahoma City Thunder: 21-6
2) Denver Nuggets: 21-5
3) LA Clippers: 20-6
4) Minnesota Timberwolves: 19-5
5) Los Angeles Lakers: 19-9
6) Houston Rockets: 19-9
7) Phoenix Suns: 18-11
8) Dallas Mavericks: 17-13
9) Utah Jazz: 17-10
10) New Orleans Pelicans: 16-10
11) Sacramento Kings: 15-9
12) Golden State Warriors: 14-14
13) Portland Trail Blazers: 9-17
14) Memphis Grizzlies: 7-20
15) San Antonio Spurs: 5-21

The Western Conference standings shift when sorting by home court record. The biggest differences involve the Rockets and Lakers, who have defended home court better than most teams near the bottom of their conference. The Lakers are 10 games above .500 at home but just four games above .500 overall.

With just 26 games remaining, and 13 at home, if their strong play in L.A. holds up, they should be able to bank nine more wins to help their playoff odds. The Rockets are also 10 games above .500 at home but are just 12th in the West thanks to just 5 road wins.

That horrid road record has tanked their playoff chances. Unsurprisingly, both the Nuggets and Jazz, who play at high altitude, have a big home court advantage, with Denver having the second-fewest home losses this season.

Utah has played far better at home than away, which is almost always the case in the NBA, but other teams usually play noticeably worse there due to the altitude, which causes opponents to get tired quicker. If they can continue their strong play there, then they may just sneak into the playoffs.

All in all, many of the best teams in the league have achieved their records on the strength of their play at home. That makes home court advantage all the more important as the playoffs loom.