The first six games in this season’s playoffs all had something in common. The home teams all prevailed, winning by an average of 18.5 points per game.<\/p>\n
And since then, chaos. Road teams figured out how to avoid being pushovers.<\/p>\n
Of the six first-round series that have completed two games, only two higher-seeded teams \u2014 Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> \u2014 have managed to hold serve at home and take 2-0 series leads. Oklahoma City could join the Cavaliers<\/a> and Lakers in that club if it beats Phoenix in Game 2 of that series on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Otherwise, that home-court advantage teams spent 82 games of regular-season basketball trying to obtain? It’s already gone, meaning a whole bunch of Game 3s are coming up later this week with lower-seeded teams feeling pretty good about their chances at springing an upset.<\/p>\n \u2014 East No. 8 Orlando beat No. 1 Detroit in Game 1 of their series on Sunday. The Pistons<\/a> will try to salvage a split when the series resumes Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u2014 East No. 6 Atlanta beat No. 3 New York on Monday, while West No. 6 Minnesota beat No. 3 Denver later that night.<\/p>\n \u2014 And on Tuesday, East No. 7 Philadelphia beat No. 2 Boston, and West No. 7 Portland beat No. 2 San Antonio in a game in which the Spurs<\/a> saw Victor Wembanyama<\/a> depart with a concussion in the first half.<\/p>\n Cleveland is up 2-0 on Toronto, while the Lakers are up 2-0 on Houston.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s the playoffs,\u201d Celtics<\/a> forward Jaylen Brown<\/a> said after his team \u2014 which beat the 76ers by 32 points in Game 1 \u2014 lost by 14 points in Game 2. \u201cThey’ve got ballplayers over there and they came to play. On any given night, you can lose a game if you don’t come out with the right mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n Road teams getting wins isn’t uncommon. It’s been a trend in recent years.<\/p>\n Over the last six postseasons, not counting the 2020 playoffs held inside the bubble at Walt Disney World because of the pandemic, home teams have won only 58% of playoff games \u2014 a steep dip from what used to be the norm. In the 15 seasons before that, home teams won playoff games at a 69% rate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever story you told yourself during the regular season, that story is done,\u201d Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. \u201cAnd now it\u2019s the playoffs, so it’s an entirely new season.\u201d<\/p>\n It’s not like the Pistons, Celtics, Spurs \u2014 with or without Wembanyama \u2014 or Nuggets<\/a> will be intimidated by the notion of now having to win at least one road game if they’re going to eventually prevail in these opening-round series. They all made road wins look routine this season.<\/p>\n Oklahoma City had the best road record in the NBA<\/a>. The next four winningest road teams, in order, were San Antonio, Detroit, Denver and Boston.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to just keep your temperament where it’s at, understand these games ebb and flow,” Denver coach David Adelman said after the Game 2 loss to Minnesota. \u201cAnd we can play better. We know that.\u201d<\/p>\n And Houston’s 30 home wins tied for the fourth-most in the league, so the Lakers \u2014 even after they were one of the clubs defend home floor and take a 2-0 lead \u2014 know their matchup with the Rockets<\/a> is far from over.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s the postseason. So, it’s the first to four,” Lakers forward LeBron James<\/a> said. \u201cIt’s never the first to one. It’s never the first to two. Our whole mindset now is focused on Game 3. We know we’re going into a hostile environment. Guys tend to play better at home than they do on the road, so we have to be ready for that.\u201d<\/p>\n In the current playoff format, higher-seeded teams win conference quarterfinals series 77.4% of the time, and that goes up to 92.5% of the time when those higher-seeded clubs start with 2-0 series leads. The road warriors so far \u2014 Orlando, Atlanta, Minnesota, Portland and Philadelphia \u2014 have at least put a good-sized dent in those odds<\/a>.<\/p>\n That said, they all know there’s a ton of basketball left to be played.<\/p>\n