The NBA Finals are set, with the Golden State Warriors seeking their seventh NBA championship and the Boston Celtics looking for their 18th, which would pull them ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the most all time.
For the Warriors, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green remain the mainstay pieces as Andrew Wiggins enjoys a breakout postseason. The Celtics, meanwhile, are leaning on the outstanding performance of Jayson Tatum and one of the best supporting casts in basketball featuring Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams III.
In a somewhat unconventional twist, the No. 3-seeded Warriors will be hosting the No. 2-seeded Celtics. This marks the 11th time in NBA history the lower seed coming into the playoffs will have home court advantage, the most recent occurrence coming in 2019 when the Raptors earned home court advantage as a two seed over the No. 1 Warriors.
The Raptors would go on to win that series, and the Warriors will look to exorcise some demons and pull off the lower-seed series win over the Celtics to close out this year.
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Why do the Warriors have home court advantage?
The Warriors have home court advantage due to having a better record than the Celtics in the regular season. The NBA doesn't re-seed in the playoffs, the bracket is fixed, but when the two conferences meet in the Finals the regular season is taken back into account.
The Warriors finished 53-29, two games better than the 51-31 Celtics. Golden State was outpaced by the Suns and Grizzlies. They beat the Grizzlies in the second round of this year's playoffs, while the Suns were bounced by Mavericks.
The Celtics got the No. 2 seed in the East behind the Heat, who they just beat in the Conference Finals. They won the No. 2 seed in a tiebreaker over the Milwaukee Bucks, the team they beat in Round 2.
What is the Warriors' home record this season?
Golden State was outstanding in the friendly confines of the Chase Center this year, going 31-10 in the regular season. They went 22-19 on the road, despite scoring over four more points per game.
Jordan Poole seemed particularly happy to be home this year. He posted a negative net rating in road games this year, and had a net of 7 at home. He'll look to continue that success against a Celtics team that plays the perimeter remarkably well.
Stephen Curry will be capable no matter where he plays, but for young players like Poole and Wiggins, being at home could be a huge boon.
The Warriors are 9-0 in home games in the playoffs so far this year, so the Celtics will have their work cut out for them.
What is the Celtics' road record this season?
The Celtics, coming off a Game 7 win against the Heat in Miami, were 23-18 in the regular season on the road. They'll be looking to claim home court early with a win in San Francisco in the first two games of the series. As the No. 2 seed, they had home court advantage in each of the first two series.
Jayson Tatum had over a point per game more on the road this year, but more notably, he shot almost 10 percent better from beyond the arc on the road. While that's more than likely natural variance, it'll be something to look out for as the series goes on.
Tatum thriving on the road will be key if Boston is to go back to Boston 1-1. Coming off two straight seven-game series whereas the Warriors haven't gone to seven yet, the Celtics already have their work cut out for them.
The Celtics are 7-2 on the road so far this year, so they're perfectly comfortable playing outside of TD Garden. They'll look to replicate that success early against the Warriors.
What is the home team's record in Game 7?
Hosting teams are 15-4 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, with the most recent Game 7 being a Warriors' loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. The Warriors will be looking to shake that off and claim their seventh title. If it goes to a Game 7, history on their side. Anecdotal recent history, however, is not.
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The Celtics have won two road Game 7s, one in 1969 and one in 1974. The Washington Bullets also won a road Game 7 in 1978.
What difference does home court advantage make in the NBA Finals?
The team with home court advantage has a 57-17 record in the NBA Finals, although recent history is somewhat on the Celtics' side. Just last season, the host Phoenix Suns fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. That series concluded at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
The Celtics bucked home court advantage in the last series, and they'll look to do so again to secure their record-setting 18th title. The Warriors have been excellent in the Chase Center so far this year, and they'd undoubtedly like to capitalize on what is a clear advantage heading into the NBA Finals.
