Celtics second-best road team in the NBA?


The Celtics beat the Pistons in Detroit last night for their ninth road victory of the season.  Boston is now 9-6 away from the TD Garden.  Only one team in the NBA has a better road record than the C's--the 14-1 Warriors.  The Spurs are also 9-6 away from home, while the Raptors are just a few percentage points behind at 10-7.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the Celtics are actually a superior road squad than San Antonio, but there is more to this theory than just a small-sample record over 15 games.  For one, take a look at the quality of opponents each team has beaten:

Boston's nine victories have come in Milwaukee (12-19, but also responsible for Golden State's loss), Oklahoma City (20-10), Houston (16-16), Miami (18-11), Sacramento (12-17), New Orleans (10-20), Charlotte twice (16-13) and Detroit (17-14).  Six of nine are .500 or better, and in total those nine teams have a combined record of 137-133 (.507).

Here's the Spurs' 2015-16 road hit list:
Boston (17-13)
New York (14-17)
Sacramento (12-17)
Portland (12-20)
Denver (12-18)
Memphis (16-16)
Philadelphia (2-30)
Atlanta (20-12)
Minnesota (11-19)

Six of those nine clubs are under .500, and they have a combined record of 116-162 (.417).  The 76ers skew the number, but even if you throw out Philly the other eight teams are still just 114-132 (.463).

There's also this--the Celtics closed out last season by winning their final seven away games:


Over the C's past 44 games, they've played 22 at home and 22 away.  They're 11-11 in that time at the Garden, but 16-6 on the road.  That's more than half a season in which Boston has been an elite team away from home.



Follow Mark Vandeusen on Twitter @LucidSportsFan

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