I think you overlooked the biggest number of all 0-5. That's the Celtics road record in the play-offs. I have a another number for you 3. That the number of road games won by every NBA championship team in the history of the league. Nobody has not won a championship with out winning at least 3 road games.
So I did take a walk outside, I took a deep breath, and I look up. NO the sky wasn't falling but the hope of the Cs making a lont play-off run did fall.
He's what I think about the road record: Who cares? We won that series. We'll win this series. We're having trouble winning on the road, but we're winning at home. Who cares.
Here's why you should care: the players are feeling it. Doc has admitted the team is feeling "stress", KG is pointing fingers, and Pierce acknowledged that there's a monkey on the team's back due to the road losses.
That pressure is going to mount. Now, let's assume we win each of our home games, and lose our road games, throughout the next round. We're going into the Finals with three consecutive emotionally draining Game 7s, and we've played 21 high-pressure games.
We're then playing a series against San Antonio, LA, Utah, or New Orleans with the 2-3-2 format. That means, if we maintain the status quo, we're going back home facing two straight elimination games. If you think the pressure is bad now, wait until we're on the brink of being knocked out.
I think it's very important to win a road game as soon as possible. The thinking that we'll continue to win all of our home games is a fallacy, I think.
I agree with everything you've said...all Im saying is that no team besides Detroit has won a round two game on the road yet, and that was a nail-biter. Empirically we're not any worse off than any team in the second round of the playoffs. This mounting stress and finger points and such...its all self-imposed. Im not saying it doesn't matter, Im just saying perspective is something I feel a lot of media members (and posters) are lacking when talking about these 2 (or 5) losses.
Im not naive enough to think that we can win an NBA championship or even the eastern conference finals with the rational of "as long as we win our home games we'll be ok", but I do think that "hanging your hat" on an unbeaten home record in the playoffs in a best of 3 series where two of the games at home isn't such a bad place to be.
