NBA Oddities: Road Teams Improving in Game 7s, Shaq Out of 2nd Round

ROAD TEAMS IMPROVING IN GAME 7s
It's long been known that home teams have had an extra advantage in Game 7s of NBA playoff series, but - with Utah's win over Houston on Saturday - road teams have done surprisingly well in the last three years.

Through the 2004 playoffs, home teams were 73-15 (.830) in Game 7s, but road teams have won four of the last nine to cut the home team's overall mark to 78-19 (.804). Who knows if it's a trend or an aberration.

Here are the Game 7 results since 2005:
YEAR HOME SCORE ROAD
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2005 DAL W (116-76) HOU
2005 BOS L (97-70) IND
2005 MIA L (88-82) DET
2005 SAS W (81-74) DET
2006 PHO W (121-90) LAL
2006 SAS L (119-111) DAL
2006 PHO W (127-107) LAC
2006 DET W (79-61) CLE
2007 HOU L (103-99) UTA

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SHAQ MISSES 2ND ROUND FOR FIRST TIME SINCE '94
I think that Shaq generally doesn't get enough credit for being a winner - he just came to an end of an amazing streak of playoff success, in which he advanced to at least the second round of the playoffs for 12 straight seasons.

Here's his playoff history:
ORLANDO
1994 Lost 1st Round (Ind)
1995 Lost NBA Finals (Hou)
1996 Lost East Finals (Chi)
LA LAKERS
1997 Lost West Semis (Uta)
1998 Lost West Finals (Uta)
1999 Lost West Semis (SAS)
2000 Won NBA Finals (Ind)
2001 Won NBA Finals (Phi)
2002 Won NBA Finals (NJN)
2003 Lost West Semis (SAS)
2004 Lost NBA Finals (Det)
MIAMI
2005 Lost East Finals (Det)
2006 Won NBA Finals (Dal)
2007 Lost 1st Round (Chi)

So, in a 12-year stretch, Big Fella won 4 championships, was runner-up twice, made the conference finals 3 times, and made the conference semis 3 other times. And of the three times he got knocked out in the second round, twice (1999 and 2003) it was to the eventual champions.