New Orleans Pelicans: A review of team and player home/away stats
New Orleans Pelicans: Home/Away Team Statistics
Offense
The New Orleans Pelicans’ offense is much better at home than on the road, which is true for most NBA teams, but the difference is fairly large for the Pels.
Their offensive rating is 113.1 at home and only 108.1 on the road, a difference of five points per 100 possessions, which is significant.
If you are wondering how that translates into points, it accounts for a 4.4 difference overall, as the Pelicans average 118.4 at home and 114 on the road.
The difference can be explained by a couple of statistics. The Pelicans turn the ball over 17.2 times per game on the road, which is the worst in the NBA. They average 15.3 turnovers at home, still terrible, but those two extra turnovers often lead to easy buckets.
The Pels have a 1.82 assist to turnover ratio at home which drops to 1.53 on the road, which is 24th in the league. Their turnover percentage is nearly two points higher on the road, so taking care of the ball is going to be key for the Pelicans in Orlando.
The Pelicans shoot a better 3-point percentage on the road, 37.4 to 37.0 at home and their FG% is nearly identical. Turnovers are the key offensive stat for the New Orleans Pelicans and have been all season.
They do shoot four more free throws on average at home and at a slightly higher percentage (73.2 to 72.4 on the road), but free throw shooting is a weakness for the Pelicans either way.
Defense
Even though the Pelicans are scoring fewer points on the road, they are also allowing fewer, as their defensive rating is 112.3 at home and 110.8 on the road.
The Pelicans are a very mediocre defensive team regardless of where they play, as most of the important statistics are nearly identical whether at home or on the road.
One stat that did stand out was Opponents’ Points Off Turnovers. The Pelicans are giving up 20.5 on the road and 18.1 at home. Both are absolutely terrible, but the road numbers are worst in the entire NBA.
The home numbers aren’t much better, just 5th worst in the NBA, but at least it’s an improvement.
These statistics show that the Pelicans are a fairly balanced team when it comes to home/away splits, but they will need to take care of the ball and limit points off turnovers if they want to have a chance in their eight road games.