Despite Tied Series and Road Woes, Celtics Still in Driver’s Seat

By Peter F. Stringer
Celtics.com
May 13, 2008

CLEVELAND, OH - The expectations for this team have been high since training camp and ratcheted up significantly since November. So it's not entirely surprising that fans and their team alike are frustrated by the Celtics' shocking 0-5 mark on the road.

But let's put this in perspective: They are tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers 2-2 in this Eastern Conference Semifinals series, and they've got two of the next three at the Garden.

So it's best of three, and just so we're clear, two of those games are at the Garden. That still sounds good.

It certainly wouldn't be ideal, but the Celtics could even advance to the Conference finals without having won a road game as long as they hold serve at home. Heck, as it stands, the Celtics could go 0-12 on the road in the playoffs and still win the NBA Championship. They've just got to do it Under Armor style. They must protect this house and go 10-0 at the Garden.

What did Doc Rivers tell his team after another Groundhog Day game on the road, this one a 88-77 defeat in Game 4?

"It's 2-2. First team to four. Nothing's changed," Rivers said.

That's what home court advantage is all about. That's why you win 66 games in the regular season. You're supposed to win your home games. That goes for the Cavs too.

"It's not like we're out here trying to lose road games," Captain Paul Pierce said. "You look across the board, the road hasn't been too kind to a lot of teams."

Asked about it before the Game 4 loss, Ray Allen assured a reporter that guys aren't talking about the losses as a function of simply being away from home. "No, that's just what [the media] talks about because that's the only storyline, really," Allen said. Pierce has continued to say all series that the Cavs aren't going to lie down for the Celtics.

Still, the same questions persist, and they will only intensify if this team isn't victorious when they return for Game 6 Friday night. But to a man, the game's venue seems to be far from the real issue.

Rajon Rondo spent time with Assistant Coach Armond Hill before Game 4 reviewing footage of Game 3, but not so he could get more comfortable with the Quicken Loans Arena or find his bearings in the Metropolis of the Western Reserve. Allen still gets his jumpers up three hours before tip-off, but not because he thinks the rims in Cleveland are any less forgiving, or the basketballs different to the touch. And guys are still eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches -- because that's what this team does before a basketball game. Leon Powe did admit to changing his pregame dressing ritual -- rocking the white dry-fit under his warmups -- but that obviously failed to register with the Basketball Gods.

Sure, the visitors' locker room is cramped and personal space is at a premium, but once they step on the court, there's very little difference between the Q and the Garden and any other NBA arena. Most guys contend that they don't see or hear the crowd anyway, so it's hard to think location really plays that much of a role.

So it's not the road by itself that's the problem, OK?

Fourth quarter execution, defensive breakdowns and the fact that, hey, the Cleveland Cavaliers are pretty good too and a have a hungry superstar who's been known to beat teams singlehandedly; those are much better reasons for the Celtics' continued road woes here in the second round.

Pierce blamed Monday's loss on an "inability to get stops."

"I thought we played tight defense for most of the night and forced them into a lot of bad shots," Pierce said. "But the key possessions, when we needed it, we just didn't get those stops."

As I write this, the plane is just about to land, it's just before 2 a.m. on Tuesday. The team is back in Boston and so the story for the next 40 hours or so until Game 5 is that the Boston Celtics can't lose at home. "Anytime we step on the court, we've got an opportunity to win," Pierce said. "Hopefully we can play better at home and then break this road streak. Then we can get everybody to stop talking about it."

Simple, huh?

"We have to go home and play," Rivers said to his team after Game 4, his message being that simply playing at home was not a miracle drug for his "homesick" squad any more than playing on the road's a poison pill. "Keep your head up and stay together."