NBA Finals game one in 2022 will be played in the City by the Bay. In the opening game of the 2018 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors will play host to the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
Both teams are used to playing in the Finals, but this year’s tournament is set up a little differently.
When it came to conference seeds, the Warriors held the third spot in the West and the Celtics held the second spot in the East. This is the second year in a row, and the fifth time since 2007, that the Finals do not include a No. 1 seed.
Who Has Home Court Advantage in NBA Finals
The rules for deciding who gets to play at home in the first three rounds of the playoffs are fairly straightforward. The team with the better regular season record will have the advantage of playing at home four times in the playoffs, while their opponent will only get three home games.
Even though the NBA Finals pit the East against the West, the same rules will be in effect. Since the Phoenix Suns’ 51-21 record is better than the Milwaukee Bucks’ 46-26 mark, the Suns will host the first two games of the series and four times if the series goes the full seven games.
Every game matters, even if some teams choose to sit their best players on occasion during the season or before the playoffs. The Suns finished with the league’s best road record and the fourth-best home court record.
How is Home-Court Advantage Determined in the NBA Finals?
The team with the better regular season record receives home-court advantage in the NBA Finals. Despite the fact that the higher seed receives this advantage in the first three rounds of the playoffs.
After finishing the regular season with a 53-29 record and the Celtics with a 51-31 mark, Golden State will play at home. As a general rule, the better record also goes to the higher seed. When the higher seeded team begins the Finals on the road, it hasn’t happened since 2019.
As the Western Conference Finals’ top seed, the 57-25 Warriors faced the 58-24 Raptors, the second seed in the Eastern Conference, in Toronto.
Conclusion
Having the advantage of playing at home in the NBA Finals is huge. Of the 74 teams to have home-court advantage in the NBA Finals, 53 have gone on to win the title. At the beginning of the Finals, home court advantage becomes even more significant.
It’s worth noting that 77% of the 57 teams that started the series at home also won Game 1. Thanks for reading our article Who Has Home Court Advantage in NBA Finals.
