NBA Standings ordered by road record: Do the Heat need homecourt in the playoffs?

Final word

Although the Miami Heat aren't even in the top five, let alone top three in road records so far this season, their track record shows that homecourt advantage is not important to this squad. The Heat have made the NBA Finals twice out of the prior four seasons without having that advantage in either season. Surely that 2020 bubble year doesn't mean much regardless considering nobody had homecourt advantage. However, it still set a road-type of stage for every single team during those playoffs.

They also were a fifth seed with a harder path of opponents to get to the Finals. Last season's run can pretty much speak for itself when it comes to this team needing homecourt advantage. Miami just squeaked their way into the playoffs completely after going through two Play-In games and found themselves as the 8 seed the rest of the way. They never fell to an 0-2 hole in any of the series they played in during that run and always was able to steal homecourt regardless.

When the Heat did have homecourt as the top seed in the Eastern Conference in 2022 they lost a game 7 on their home floor by one single missed Jimmy Butler 3-pointer. That is a prime example that securing homecourt doesn't always mean as much as people think. They also reached the NBA Finals last season against the Boston Celtics with an improbable game 7 road victory, so this team has been on both the winning and losing ends of standings advantages.

Fans have seen this resilent Miami squad pick up huge victories both at home and on the road over the years in the postseason, but this team is capable of pulling out playoff wins no matter any circumstances.

For some teams, homecourt could mean something, but not for the Miami Heat.