Home court advantage
The edge a team gets at home, which both the market and our ratings price in as a fixed number of points.
Home teams win more often than the same teams on the road, and the gap is large enough to carry a ratings model. We add a home-court term when we compute each game's expected result, and fit it from the margin of past games.
In college basketball it varies more by arena, and neutral-site tournament games have no home side at all. A model that adds home court to a neutral game is wrong by construction.
The common mistake
Home advantage has shifted over the years and differs by league. Fit it per league and season rather than borrowing a number.
Where to get it
Related
Home court advantage from the API
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