Winning on the road in the NBA has never been easy, but over the years, the Boston Celtics have done it better than any other franchise. And – with a little luck – this season’s squad could even become co-owner of the title, “Best Road Team in NBA History.” Whether they get there or not, their prowess on the road bodes well for the playoffs.
All season, Boston fans have invaded arenas around the country to torment opposing crowds with chants of “Let’s go, Celtics!” And they have been rewarded. Through games of March 25, the Celtics have a road record of 29-7, tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder to lead the league this season. With five road games to go, the Celtics could tie the 2016 Golden State Warriors, who set the league-best 34-7 road record on their way to the overall best record of 73-9.
The Warriors are the only team ever to win 34 road games. The 1996 Chicago Bulls are second at 33-8 (72-10 overall) and the 1973 Celtics are third at 32-8 (68-14 overall, short one home game because it was played instead at a neutral site).
By comparison, 39 NBA teams have had a season of winning at least 34 home games, led by the 1986 Celtics and 2016 San Antonio Spurs, who both were 40-1.
NBA teams winning at home isn’t exactly breaking news. According to a study by the University of Chicago, NBA home teams win 62.7% of games, higher than any other U.S. major sport. Fans have accepted this state of affairs ever since the early years of the league, when conventional wisdom suggested that referees favored the home team to help the paying customers go home happy (and buy more tickets in the future).
The Boston franchise has bucked that trend better than any other. Historically, the Celtics have been the visiting team 2,991 times in the regular season and have been victorious 1,457 times, for a winning percentage of .487. The wins and percentage both lead the league all time.
Twice during Red Auerbach’s head coaching tenure, the Celtics posted road winning streaks of 14 games. Four more Celtics squads – including the NBA champions of 2008 – ran off 10 consecutive away wins during the regular season.
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How do the current Celtics compare? Extremely well. Not only are they in striking distance of the Warriors’ record, they’ve:
run off streaks of eight and seven straight road wins;
have won their last five away games, three on the road trip in progress;
and have not lost consecutive road games.
Continuing that streak won’t be easy. Jaylen Brown has been in and out of the lineup with a knee problem. He must appear in eight of the remaining 10 games to meet the requirement of 65 games played to qualify for league postseason honors such as All-NBA – but can he do that and be healthy for the playoffs? And a bigger question surrounds Jayson Tatum and the ankle he sprained in Sacramento. He’s listed as “doubtful” for the next game, not “out,” which is a good sign, but we can only wait to see when he’ll play again.
Boston has continued to win on the road even when shorthanded, however with the no. 2 playoff seed basically assured, most rotation players might sit a couple of games to rest before the postseason. Postseason health must be paramount. Finally, going 5-0 to tie the road record will be a challenge against motivated competition.
The Celtics are in Phoenix tonight where the Suns have struggled to break .500 this season, but have won their last four games and still have Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Then they visit San Antonio, where the Spurs are still battling even without the ailing Victor Wembanyama. The trip and the month of March end in Memphis, where the Grizzlies have been losing lately but are in a four-way tussle for playoff positioning.
In April, the Cs play three home games before finishing their road season with a back-to-back at the New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic. Boston has lost its last three in Orlando.
But there’s still plenty to be optimistic about. If the Cs go 4-1 in that stretch, they’ll capture the franchise-best road record at 33-8. Then the playoffs will arrive, and those series promise to be special.
Over the last three postseasons, with their core of the Jays, Al Horford, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, the Celtics have been ferocious on the road.
They were 8-4 on the way to the 2022 Finals, including surviving game 6 at Milwaukee (Tatum dropping 46 points) on the way to a game 7 win at home. They topped that by beating the Heat in Miami in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals – the Celtics’ first game 7 road win since the 1974 NBA Finals.
In the 2023 playoffs, Boston was 6-3 on the road, highlighted by a comeback in game 6 in Philadelphia (Tatum erupting for 16 in the fourth quarter) and winning in 7 (Tatum’s 51-point gem). And then White miraculously kept the season alive in game 6 of the ECF at Miami.
The best came in 2024, when the Celtics won their first seven road games: two each in Miami, Cleveland and Indiana, and game 3 in Dallas. Dating back to the prior year, Boston won an astounding nine consecutive road playoff games. They finally lost in game 4 of the Finals, although no one minded because they gloriously closed out Banner 18 at home in five.
Whatever happens in the last five road games this season, no one can dispute that this Boston group is one of the winningest road-trip teams the NBA has ever seen. The confidence that breeds for postseason success is priceless.
Primary source for statistics: basketball-reference.com
