The road

Every team's schedule drawn as a trip, with what the travel actually costs. Pick a team to see its season.

Miles this season · 1st most of 30
55,530
Back-to-backs
16
Time zones crossed
46
Back-to-backs cost
about 1.2 wins

Plus a trip to Paris and Manchester, off the edge of this map.

Miles for every team

Straight-line miles between each game and the next, starting at home. Real flights add a bit.

New Orleans: 55,530 miles, 16 back-to-backsNew Orleans55,530San Antonio: 53,948 miles, 13 back-to-backsSan Antonio53,948Utah: 48,692 miles, 13 back-to-backsUtah48,692Sacramento: 48,271 miles, 14 back-to-backsSacramento48,271Denver: 47,911 miles, 14 back-to-backsDenver47,911Miami: 47,888 miles, 13 back-to-backsMiami47,888LA Clippers: 47,452 miles, 13 back-to-backsLA Clippers47,452Minnesota: 47,310 miles, 13 back-to-backsMinnesota47,310Memphis: 45,677 miles, 13 back-to-backsMemphis45,677Golden State: 45,658 miles, 15 back-to-backsGolden State45,658Houston: 45,337 miles, 14 back-to-backsHouston45,337Dallas: 44,775 miles, 16 back-to-backsDallas44,775Portland: 44,607 miles, 15 back-to-backsPortland44,607Oklahoma City: 44,284 miles, 13 back-to-backsOklahoma City44,284Phoenix: 44,282 miles, 13 back-to-backsPhoenix44,282LA Lakers: 43,717 miles, 15 back-to-backsLA Lakers43,717Orlando: 43,328 miles, 14 back-to-backsOrlando43,328Milwaukee: 41,493 miles, 14 back-to-backsMilwaukee41,493Philadelphia: 41,320 miles, 13 back-to-backsPhiladelphia41,320Boston: 41,283 miles, 16 back-to-backsBoston41,283Cleveland: 39,351 miles, 16 back-to-backsCleveland39,351Brooklyn: 37,596 miles, 16 back-to-backsBrooklyn37,596Indiana: 36,589 miles, 15 back-to-backsIndiana36,589Atlanta: 36,537 miles, 14 back-to-backsAtlanta36,537Charlotte: 36,522 miles, 13 back-to-backsCharlotte36,522Detroit: 35,984 miles, 15 back-to-backsDetroit35,984Washington: 35,745 miles, 14 back-to-backsWashington35,745Chicago: 35,395 miles, 15 back-to-backsChicago35,395New York: 35,135 miles, 13 back-to-backsNew York35,135Toronto: 35,111 miles, 15 back-to-backsToronto35,111

New Orleans flies 20,000 more miles than Toronto. Back-to-backs, not miles, are what show up in the results.

Most miles: New Orleans, San Antonio, Utah. Fewest: Toronto, New York, Chicago.

What the road actually costs

  • The second night of a back-to-back costs a team 2.3 points a game (somewhere between 1.6 and 2.9). That's the one travel effect that shows up clearly.
  • Crossing time zones: −0.19 points a game per hour, between −0.45 and 0.09. Too close to zero to say it matters.
  • Extra days of rest: 0.08 points a day, between −0.32 and 0.42. Same story.

Fitted on 11,808 games, 2016-17 to 2025-26, with both teams' strength taken into account.

Home court, arena by arena

Points a game a team gets just from playing at home, after accounting for who's better. The league average is about 2.0. Bars show the likely range. ▲ high altitude: Denver plays a mile up, Utah about 4,200 feet.

0+2+4Denver: +3.9 points at home (2.5 to 5.2)Denver ▲+3.9LA Lakers: +2.9 points at home (1.6 to 4.2)LA Lakers+2.9New Orleans: +2.6 points at home (1.2 to 4.1)New Orleans+2.6Oklahoma City: +2.6 points at home (1.3 to 4.0)Oklahoma City+2.6Utah: +2.6 points at home (1.4 to 4.1)Utah ▲+2.6LA Clippers: +2.5 points at home (0.9 to 4.0)LA Clippers+2.5Boston: +2.5 points at home (1.0 to 3.7)Boston+2.5Portland: +2.5 points at home (1.1 to 4.0)Portland+2.5Philadelphia: +2.4 points at home (1.3 to 3.7)Philadelphia+2.4Houston: +2.4 points at home (1.2 to 3.5)Houston+2.4Minnesota: +2.3 points at home (1.2 to 3.8)Minnesota+2.3Atlanta: +2.2 points at home (0.8 to 3.7)Atlanta+2.2Indiana: +2.2 points at home (0.8 to 3.4)Indiana+2.2Milwaukee: +2.2 points at home (0.7 to 3.6)Milwaukee+2.2San Antonio: +2.2 points at home (0.9 to 3.5)San Antonio+2.2Golden State: +2.1 points at home (0.7 to 3.7)Golden State+2.1Memphis: +2.1 points at home (0.6 to 3.6)Memphis+2.1Dallas: +2.0 points at home (0.8 to 3.5)Dallas+2.0Toronto: +1.9 points at home (0.6 to 3.2)Toronto+1.9Detroit: +1.9 points at home (0.7 to 3.1)Detroit+1.9Miami: +1.9 points at home (0.4 to 3.1)Miami+1.9Phoenix: +1.8 points at home (0.7 to 3.1)Phoenix+1.8New York: +1.7 points at home (0.5 to 2.9)New York+1.7Cleveland: +1.2 points at home (-0.1 to 2.6)Cleveland+1.2Orlando: +1.1 points at home (-0.3 to 2.5)Orlando+1.1Charlotte: +1.0 points at home (-0.3 to 2.3)Charlotte+1.0Washington: +1.0 points at home (-0.1 to 2.2)Washington+1.0Sacramento: +0.8 points at home (-0.4 to 2.1)Sacramento+0.8Brooklyn: +0.5 points at home (-0.9 to 1.8)Brooklyn+0.5Chicago: +0.5 points at home (-0.9 to 1.9)Chicago+0.5

One team has a home court clearly above the league's +2.0: Denver.

See where the players on these teams come from

Questions

Do back-to-backs hurt NBA teams?

Yes. It's the one travel effect that shows up clearly. The second night of a back-to-back costs a team about 2.3 points, somewhere between 1.6 and 2.9, on 11,808 games from 2016-17 to 2025-26.

Does crossing time zones matter?

Not that we can measure. It comes out around 0.2 points per hour crossed, too close to zero to call.

Which NBA team travels the most?

New Orleans, at 55,530 miles this season. Toronto travels the least, 35,111. Those are straight-line miles from game to game, so real flights add a bit.

How much is home court worth in the NBA?

About 2 points a game on average, after accounting for who's better. Denver gets the most, about 3.9, playing a mile up.

Arena locations: Wikidata (CC0). Schedule: ESPN via sportsdataverse. The effects and costs are ours, built from play-by-play data. Not affiliated with the NBA.