The importance of the NBA's regular season is often trivialized. Critics say that it goes on too long, players take games off and don't play with full intensity, and too many bad teams are allowed to qualify for the playoffs anyway. This year has been different, however. Not because the regular season has been more spectacular than in the past (although you can make the case that it has), but those regular season records have determined the current home court advantage situation for these playoffs.
And this year home court is everything. Everything.
So much so that the 37-45 Atlanta Hawks exited these playoffs with an unblemished 3-0 home record and a local bandwagon that suddenly weighs thousands of fans heavier. The mighty Celtics were no match for the raucous Atlanta crowd that turned marginal Joe Johnson into the second coming of 'Nique and then some. Yet none of the games the Hawks played in Boston saw them even dare to pull up close to the enigmatic team in green. They came closest in Game 2 where they were "only" blown-out by 19.
The Game 7 finale of this series was a predictable 99-65 massacre that ended in the third quarter with Kevin Garnett's gratuitous, demolishing pick set on Zaza Pachulia to settle several earlier scores within the series. Message sent: Kevin Garnett takes things personal in the playoffs.
So why then, would he allow a team which he is clearly the emotional leader of, to drop all six road games through two seven-game playoff series in which Boston clearly appeared to be the better team against both opponents? Certainly, there was no evidence this would happen to Boston judging by their regular season road record, which was the best in the league. The answer may very well be laziness.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers had mentioned following game four of this Hawks series that, "I could hear them in the locker room saying 'hey, guys, don't worry, we go back home and everything will be okay' and I said 'listen, you got to go make it okay, don't just rely on going home.'"
This is a troubling quote that may somewhat explain the Celtics' lackluster tendencies on the road. With home court advantage throughout the playoffs, winning each home game and losing each road game in a standard 2-2-1-1-1 playoff series does not put Boston in a greatly threatened position until a must-win Game 7 at home or until the Finals, which changes to the riskier 2-3-2 format.
In the following series against Cleveland, the road losses were almost forgivable considering it was King James' court they had entered upon and the Cavaliers stifling defense rivaled Boston's own. And yet even so, the Cavaliers were still without three-point sniper "Boobie" Gibson for Game 6 and managed to win.
This led to a tempting of fate. Cleveland did bring their A-game into Boston for Game 7, or more specifically, LeBron James brought his A-game. As one of the great duels in recent playoff memory unfolded, the New Garden staff would have suited their fans well by equipping each seat with an oxygen mask. Few expected Paul Pierce to step up and score 41 points to rival LeBron's 46, otherwise we would now be seeing a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals.
As the Celtics finally pulled away from Cleveland that Sunday afternoon, I had a feeling they were not out of the woods. Sure, they survived elimination again, but the Pistons team that followed was 3-2 on the road and had been through the wars. Certainly, they would be the first to steal one on Boston's home court from a weary Celts team already playing in its 15th and 16th playoff games, respectively. Then yours truly decided that was what it would take for the Celtics to finally end their road woes. The realization they were no longer in the drivers' seat would unleash true playoff intensity and finally lead to a road win in Detroit.
Well, unfortunately, I cannot prove these were my thoughts before the series, so you will have to take me on my word, but the series has turned out thus far exactly that way, with the Pistons making every shot imaginable and effectively putting out that smarmy cigar smoked by the leprechaun at half-court, followed by the Celtics senselessly pounding the Motor City into submission from the opening tip in Game 3.
So where was that playoff intensity during all their other playoff road games in Atlanta and Cleveland? Again, the answer lies in laziness and the sometimes fickle and unreliable nature of the competitive human spirit.
Granted, this also may have had much to do with the injury hampering point guard Chauncey Billups, their on-court leader. Now that Boston has finally proven it can win a road game, the Pistons are in considerable danger of losing Game 4 at home, as well, and going out quickly and quietly.
While the Celtics may be the best example of home court dominance and road shakiness during the playoffs, they are far from the only one. Going into the conference finals, three of the four remaining teams were also undefeated at home. The Lakers and Spurs are now both 7-0 at home, while the Celtics reached 9-0 before dropping Game 2 to Detroit. Both the Lakers and Spurs have had limited road success, winning tough close-out games away from home, but also struggling mightily, as well.
All in all, home teams in this year's playoffs are 55-19 as of now, prior to Celtics/Pistons Game 4, for a staggering 74% success rate at home, including one stretch in the conference semis where the home team was 22-1 before the Lakers and Spurs broke through with poised and highly impressive performances in Utah and New Orleans respectively to end their series.
If you can remember back to the beginning of the NBA season, a popular commercial on ESPN often aired in which "The Big Three" of Garnett, Pierce, and Ray Allen on the ESPN bus enjoyed a viewing of Hoosiers (alongside a misty-eyed Jeff Van Gundy). It was in this movie that Hickory High coach Norman Dale famously measured the height of the rims at the state championship game and width and length of the court to make a point. It's still the same game being played. It appears that lesson may have finally sunk in for the Celtics two nights ago.
Perhaps the rest of the league could learn a thing or two from old Hickory High, as well.
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