Can an NBA Team “Steal” Home Court Advantage?
In the NBA playoff system, the Eastern Division champion plays the Western Division champion in a seven-game series. The first two games of the series are scheduled at the home arena of the team with the most wins during the season. Let’s call them Team A. The next three games are scheduled at Team B’s arena, and the final two games are scheduled at Team A’s arena. This can be described as a 2-3-2 schedule. [Prior to 1985, a 2-2-1-1-1 schedule was used.] The first team to achieve four wins is the NBA champion. Thus, the series may last for 4, 5, 6, or 7 games. Team A, if the series lasts all seven games, will play four games at its home arena, while Team B will only have three home games. Since basketball teams tend to win more often at home than away, Team A is said to have “home court advantage” for the series. [Note that if the series lasts 4 games or 6 games, each team plays the same number of home and away games. If it lasts 5 games, Team B has three home games while Team A has tw
