Jerry Stephens: A big factor behind Oklahoma City’s stellar 30-12 record this season has been their outstanding record at home (20-5). How pleasing is that record, and why do you think they have such an advantage at home?
David Ramil: Not being from Oklahoma City, I can’t speak directly to the excitement level at the Chesapeake Energy Arena but the OKC fan base has always been a pretty rowdy one. I imagine that the team feeds off that directly and that’s certainly helped their home record.
They’ve also had to adjust to a new head coach and different schemes so it’s definitely helped that they had such a relatively easy schedule thus far in the season (with 25 out of 42 games at home). But, while I am pleased at their record, the reality is that means things will get much more difficult as the year progresses.
Ultimately, my feeling is that it doesn’t matter because the regular season is hardly an accurate template for the playoffs and you have to win both away and at home in order to move on. I’m more impressed with how the team has continued to grow and develop overall – after starting just 6-5, they’ve gone on an impressive 24-7 stretch that included losses without Kevin Durant in the lineup. That’s pretty amazing.
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