About HCA and the Lakers

[Drucci]

Of course I'd rather have HCA against L.A that not have it but I see a lot of people claiming "we're cooked against L.A if we don't have HCA!".

Just want to remind you that either way we will have to win at least one game on their homecourt, like we did both in '08 and '10.

Also, we did win one game (game 2) last year and had stolen HCA only to get it stolen in the next game in Boston so it goes to show you how fragile HCA can be either way. Finally, I know we lost game 7 and lost a 12 point lead in that game but it also shows you that we were able to lead the defending champs by 12 points on their homecourt in a decisive game 7. Let this scenario happen this year again only to replace Sheed by Shaq and JO, along with Delonte and Green to spell Ray and Pierce, and I think we are looking pretty good in the same situation, don't we?

My point is, ultimately HCA can be important, especially in a game 7, but what matters most is the team's mental and ability to play well every game. We looked even worse at home than on the road last year at some point in the playoffs. This year may be different because we've played better at home but there is no guarantee we will win all the games on our homefloor anyway.

[radiohead]

I totally agree. HCA is a luxury but not a necessity. I think this is what the big 4 have in mind. They may be struggling now, but they're confident that they can win any 7 game series even without HCA once the playoffs start. This may not be the ideal way of looking at it, specially from a fan's point of view, but they did prove it last year. Can they do it again this year? That is anybody's guess. 

[Onslaught]

I've got to go into work so I don't have the time to look it up.
But I think that history looks more favorably on the team with the HCA.

We couldn't do it last year and I see no reason to think we can this year.

[Drucci]

I've got to go into work so I don't have the time to look it up.
But I think that history looks more favorably on the team with the HCA.

We couldn't do it last year and I see no reason to think we can this year.

It's always better to have HCA but HCA in itself is not a guarantee of anything. And yes, we didn't get it done on the Lakers homecourt last year but it had more to do with Perk's absence (Perk or any 7 footer to replace him, just to be sure this doesn't turn into another "see, we need Perk!" thread ).

I mean, it's right to say we didn't win on the Lakers homecourt in game 7. But to say we can't as in "it's impossible" is not a valid argument : it would be valid had we got blown out in every game at Staples Center, and it happened only in game 1 (not counting game 6 because of Perk's injury and its effect on the team's mental), we won game 2 and led by 12 in the 3rd in the game 7. It's not like there is a huge mental "block" from the team, we can clearly win in L.A, it's just a question of being healthy.

[PseudoElite]

Celtics didn't lose the finals last year because of HCA.

They lost because their starting center went down with injury, and the backups were *drumroll* : Brian Scalabrine and Shelden Williams.

Amazing how people seem to forget that.

HCA is great, but apparently the Celtics don't care much about it currently.

[RMO]

I think the 2-3-2 format of the finals makes it more important against any team in the west, not just the lakers.  Sure they can win one in LA but then in order to defend the HCA they'll need to win three in a row.  That's tough to do in a playoff series, particularly against a team that's good enough to make it to the finals.

[wiley]

It's worth getting it if at all possible with the way the refs swing with the crowd on many occasions...hard to overcome a free throw disparity like the one seen last year..agree it's doable...just hard.

[Assassin70]

Celtics didn't lose the finals last year because of HCA.

They lost because their starting center went down with injury, and the backups were *drumroll* : Brian Scalabrine and Shelden Williams.

Amazing how people seem to forget that.

HCA is great, but apparently the Celtics don't care much about it currently.

Wrong...for the 100X on this topic.  We lost because the offense came to a halt (as it usually does) and we could not grab a rebound.

Hopefully JG, Dwest, Shaq, JO, and (a looking much better then last year) KG can stop that from happening should we get in that situation again.

[OsirusCeltics]

Celtics didn't lose the finals last year because of HCA.

They lost because their starting center went down with injury, and the backups were *drumroll* : Brian Scalabrine and Shelden Williams.

Amazing how people seem to forget that.

HCA is great, but apparently the Celtics don't care much about it currently.

Wrong...for the 100X on this topic.  We lost because the offense came to a halt (as it usually does) and we could not grab a rebound.

Hopefully JG, Dwest, Shaq, JO, and (a looking much better then last year) KG can stop that from happening should we get in that situation again.

Yup, exactly right. The Celtics bench was completely horrible with only Big Baby, and Nate as the only consistent offensive options. KG on one leg didn't help either. Lack of offensive lost the game for the Celtics, not 20,000 fans screaming against them...

[Cman]

Of course I'd rather have HCA against L.A that not have it but I see a lot of people claiming "we're cooked against L.A if we don't have HCA!".

Just want to remind you that either way we will have to win at least one game on their homecourt, like we did both in '08 and '10.

Also, we did win one game (game 2) last year and had stolen HCA only to get it stolen in the next game in Boston so it goes to show you how fragile HCA can be either way. Finally, I know we lost game 7 and lost a 12 point lead in that game but it also shows you that we were able to lead the defending champs by 12 points on their homecourt in a decisive game 7. Let this scenario happen this year again only to replace Sheed by Shaq and JO, along with Delonte and Green to spell Ray and Pierce, and I think we are looking pretty good in the same situation, don't we?

My point is, ultimately HCA can be important, especially in a game 7, but what matters most is the team's mental and ability to play well every game. We looked even worse at home than on the road last year at some point in the playoffs. This year may be different because we've played better at home but there is no guarantee we will win all the games on our homefloor anyway.

Drucci, I appreciate your thoughts, which are well laid out, and gave you a TP for it.

But what I dont get is the preoccupation with the Lakers.  The way this team has been playing, its a luxury to consider even facing them.  Celtics will likely need to beat Philly or NY (the latter is the preferable opponent), then beat Miami on the road (no easy task), then beat Chicago on the road (no easy task) before even thinking about who might come out of the West (Spurs? OKC? LA?)

[PosImpos]

Realistically, to win in the Finals without HCA against LA we'd have to win at least 2 games on their home court.  At best, the Celtics are evenly matched with the Lakers; they cannot claim any great advantage over them.  As such, the prospect of winning three straight home games against the Lakers is very unlikely.