How do the Celtics stack up against other great regular season teams

[nickagneta]

The loss last night really bothered me because I felt that the Celtics needed to prove to themselves that they could win on the road in the postseason. I mean, great regular season teams that have championship aspirations just don't struggle this much on the road in the playoffs after being such a good regular season team and regular season road team. Do they?

So I looked up some stats on the top 40 teams with the highest winning percentages in NBA history. Here's what I found:


Pct   Record   Team      Season   Postseason Results                Playoff   Home   Away  
.878   72-10   Bulls      1995-96     NBA Championship                  15-3    39-2    33-8
.841   69-13   Lakers   1971-72     NBA Championship                  12-3    36-5    31-7
.841   69-13   Bulls      1996-97     NBA Championship                  15-4    39-2    30-11
.840   68-13   76ers     1966-67     NBA Championship                  11-4    28-2    26-8
.829   68-14   Celtics   1972-73     Eastern Conference Finals       7-6    33-6    32-8
.817   67-15   Celtics   1985-86     NBA Championship                  15-3    40-1    27-14
.817   67-15   Bulls      1991-92     NBA Championship                  15-7    36-5    31-10
.817   67-15   Lakers   1999-00     NBA Championship                  15-8    36-5    31-10  
.817   67-15   Mavericks2006-07    Western Conference 1st Rd    2-4    36-5    31-10
.817   49-11   Capitols 1946-47     Semi-Finals                                 2-4    29-1    20-10
.805   66-16    Bucks    1970-71     NBA Championship                  12-2    34-2    28-13
.805   66-16    Celtics   2007-08    TBD                                               TBD    35-6    31-10
.797   51-13    Nationals1949-50    NBA Finals                                 6-5    31-1    15-12
.793   65-17    76ers    1982-83      NBA Championship                 12-1    35-6    30-11
.793   65-17    Lakers   1986-87     NBA Championship                 15-3    37-4    28-13
.787   59-16    Celtics  1959-60      NBA Championship                  8-5    25-2    23-9
.780   64-18   Sonics   1995-96      NBA Finals                                 13-8    38-3    26-15  
.780   64-18   Jazz       1996-97       NBA Finals                                 13-7    38-3    26-15
.780   64-18   Pistons  2005-06      Eastern Conference Finals     10-8    37-4    27-14
.775   62-18   Celtics  1964-65       NBA Championship                   8-4    27-3    27-11
.768   63-19   Bucks    1971-72      Western Conference Finals       6-5   31-5    27-12
.768   63-19   Celtics  1981-82      Eastern Conference Finals        7-5    35-6    28-13  
.768   63-19   Celtics  1984-85      NBA Finals                                   13-8    35-6    28-13
.768   63-19   Pistons  1988-89     NBA Championship                   15-2    37-4    26-15
.768   63-19   Lakers   1989-90     Western Conference 2nd Rd     4-5    37-4    26-15
.768   63-19   Blazers  1990-91     Western Conference Finals        9-7    36-5    27-14
.768   63-19   Sonics   1993-94     Western Conference 1st Rd       2-3    37-4    26-15
.768   63-19   Spurs    2005-06      Western Conference 2nd Rd      7-6    34-7    29-12
.756   62-20   76ers    1967-68      Eastern Division Finals              7-6    27-8    25-12
.756   62-20   Celtics  1980-81      NBA Championship                    12-5    35-6    27-14
.756   62-20   76ers    1980-81      Eastern Conference Finals         9-7    37-4    25-16
.756   62-20   Celtics  1983-84       NBA Championship                   15-8    33-8    29-12
.756   62-20   Lakers   1984-85      NBA Championship                   15-4    36-5    26-15
.756   62-20   Lakers   1985-86     Western Conference Finals        8-6    35-6    27-14
.756   62-20   Lakers   1987-88     NBA Championship                      15-9    36-5    26-15
.756   62-20   Suns      1992-93     NBA Finals                                     13-11    35-6    27-14
.756   62-20   Spurs     1994-95     Western Conference Finals         9-6    33-8    29-12
.756   62-20   Bulls      1997-98      NBA Championship                     15-6    37-4    25-16
.756   62-20   Jazz       1997-98      NBA Finals                                     13-7    36-5    26-15
.756   62-20   Suns       2004-05      Western Conference Finals      9-6    31-10    31-10


Some interesting stats to take from this:

- only 42.5%(17-40) of these teams won an NBA Championship

- only 57.5%(23-40) of these teams even made it to the NBA Finals

- 39.1%(9-23) of the teams that made it to the NBA Finals ending up having 7 or more losses

- 25%(10-40) of these teams had 30 or more road victories during the season

- if the Celtics don't win the NBA Championship they will become the fourth team with 30 or more regular season road wins to not win the NBA Championship with the other teams being the 07 Mavericks, the 05 Suns and the 73 Celtics. All teams that in the end were considered disappointments, although the Suns less so.

- 10% of these 40 teams(4) didn't even make it to their conference finals. The Celtics will be the fifth if they lose to Cleveland.

- I found no team that went on to the NBA Finals that lost their first 5 road playoff games. Some teams had bad road records going into the Finals. 2-6, 3-5, and 3-6 being some of those records. But I didn't find any team that made it that far simply by winning all their home playoff games.

What does all this mean?

First, having a great regular season record does not necessarily translate into playoff success. Heck even having a great road regular season record doesn't translate into playoff success. But through all the records I looked through, searching for a good team that had a playoff start like the Celtics, I was unsuccessful in finding a team that had a similar run.

So, if history is any indicator, the Celtics had better start putting together some playoff road wins or else they will go down as a tremendous regular season story that just didn't have what it took to play with the big boys in the playoffs.

[Who]

Thanks for the research Nick, good work.

[BASSTHUMPER]

what other teams have done does not really matter...as long as we win at home thats all that matters..when the season first started it was a couple of posters that thought it would take 2-3 years to even make the playoffs...it's worse if we were winning on the road and losing at home..everyone wants the celtics to be the bigggest and baddest team by sweepin everyone in the playoffs but it aint gonnna happen like that.....i hope the celtics squad remember not to try and please the sports writers and doubters just stay focused on gettin to the next level..

[nickagneta]

what other teams have done does not really matter...as long as we win at home thats all that matters..when the season first started it was a couple of posters that thought it would take 2-3 years to even make the playoffs...it's worse if we were winning on the road and losing at home..everyone wants the celtics to be the bigggest and baddest team by sweepin everyone in the playoffs but it aint gonnna happen like that.....i hope the celtics squad remember not to try and please the sports writers and doubters just stay focused on gettin to the next level..

Amen to that BT, Amen to that!!

I did the research praying to find someone that had had a simliar run, but I just couldn't.

But this team has been all about doing what no other team has ever done before all season.

So that bodes well in my book.

I still say, as I did to friends before this series started that it would be Celts in 6, and I stand by that.

[Roy Hobbs]

Nice work, nick.  I always enjoy the well-researched posts, and I guarantee this took you a lot of time.  TP.