3) Goal: Earn Home Court Advantage
The value of home court advantage is often overhyped; in fact, according to ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh, this season NBA home teams are winning at an all-time low rate. Yet, for some reason, Oracle Arena’s different. In an era of commercialized arenas focused on suite revenue and off-the-court attractions, Oracle’s an old school mix of fiercely loyal and basketball knowledge fans crammed into a 1970s arena where the only attraction is the game. A comparison of the Warriors’ stats home and away…
HOME: 92.3 Win %, 49.8 Field Goal %, 41.1 3-Point %, and a 15.8 Plus-Minus
AWAY: 71.4 Win %, 46.1 Field Goal %, 36.6 3-Point %, and a 5.6 Plus-Minus
A 15.8 Plus-Minus would be the best in the history of the NBA -by far. A 5.6 Plus-Minus is between the Clippers and Mavericks. Oracle Arena is the NBA’s version of Rucker Park, just exchange dunks inducing a crowd rushing the court for rainbow 3s inducing disbelief. For most teams playoff home court advantage will be overvalued, not for the Warriors. When your arena and fans are this unique, you’ve got to guarantee the majority of your playoff games are played in your palace.
Does this sound like Homer sports writing? Sure. But you know it’s true.