In the NBA bubble, there is no home court advantage.
That might bode well for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Over the last decade, they’ve been the third-best road team in the NBA, according to a study by Fit Rated.
From 2009-2019, only five teams have won at least 50% of their games on the road. The Thunder have a 52.9% winning percentage, behind only the San Antonio Spurs (54.1%) and Golden State Warriors (53.4%).
On average, the away team won just 41.2% of the time.
Even with a transformed rotation led by newcomers like Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari, that hasn’t changed this season.
The Thunder actually have a better road record (20-11) this season than they do home (20-13).
That 64.5% winning percentage on the road is second-best in the Western Conference, trailing only the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks are all vying for a spot as high as the third seed while trying to avoid the seventh seed, which will likely have to play the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round.
The Rockets, at 50.5%, and Mavericks, at 45.7%, are the closest of those teams to the Thunder in terms of road winning percentage over the past 10 years.
Looking at just the 2019-20 numbers, the Mavericks and Jazz are right on the Thunders’ tail, also with road winning percentages above 60%.
Yes, these bubble games are in neutral environments, not road games, even if there are some fans in the virtual attendance and crowd noise pumped into the arena.
Maybe these numbers won’t mean much, but it does show that Oklahoma City has consistently and historically played well even without the adoring crowds.
Even if it doesn’t mean they’ll be good, it’s a positive sign for the Thunder that they don’t need the cheering behind them to pick up some wins.
