In the 2018 NBA Playoffs, as Brad Stevens’s young pups were elevating all those pesky expectations that led to this season’s disappointment, Eastern Conference teams participated in 45 of the exactly 82 contests. Of those 45 games, the “Home” team emerged victorious 31 times, a near 70% rate of success.
This season, teams from the East saw action in 42 playoff games – but the “Road” team was able to “steal” precisely half of them. Overall, teams playing at home were 45-35 (.551) during the 2019 post-season.
The Raptors and Warriors just combined to match an NBA Finals standard for Road Victories / Home Losses in a single series at FIVE, an “achievement” equaled only by the Bulls and Suns in 1993 and the 1974 Celtics and Bucks (who needed seven games to turn that little trick).