When will the C's get dominant at home again?

[Drucci]

If you've followed the Celtics this year, you probably understood the thread's title at once. Since the slump the C's went through after their 6 first games, they played badly at home and lost to teams like Phoenix, Atlanta and Orlando. I remember after the loss to Orlando, people (rightfully so) said that the road trip was what we needed to get back on track and get back to the collective game. Well, we all know it has worked very well and even better than what we expected.

However, the Celtics have not looked dominant for a long time in Boston. Everytime a (usually) poor or average team comes to town, when we expect the Celtics to crush them, they either struggle to get the lead, or, once they have it, can't succeed to extend it and blow the opponent to allow the Celtics starters to rest in the 4th. These games are strangely close throughout the end. Recent examples : against the Sixers (113-110), against Toronto for 3 quarters before blowing them out, against Milwaukee for three quarters and a half...

And yet, it's obvious that the Celtics are not satisfied with the way they're playing on their own homecourt. It's truly great to see them dominate on the road, and it's a good sign for the playoffs, but yet, if you don't dominate at home against average teams, it seems like something is still wrong to me. I understand that sometimes teams can be better than expected on one game, but in that situation, it's more like the Celtics are struggling (poor defense many times, turnovers, poor shots...) than their opponents are really good.

How do you explain these poor home performances by the Celtics, especially when they have been so dominant at home the last 2 years?

I have a hard time understanding this phenomenon and I hope we turn the things around quickly. Maybe we need a spark like KG's buzzer beater was in NY to get excellent on the road once again?

Anyway, I find myself hoping than the next home game will turn the things up but so far I have been disappointed. I'm still amazed that Boston already lost 3 games out of 11 at home! What is even more disturbing is that opponents seem to play with a lot of confidence on our homecourt when they should be scared or uncomfortable...

[Kiorrik]

I dunno if this makes any sense, but they were very hard game against solid teams while we were on the back end of a stretch of many games in little time.

Also, we were figuring out how to do our thing best and I think we just hadn't found our "groove" just yet.

We're a different team then we were at the start, imo. Just my two cents m8

In short; I don't think there's such a thing as "worse at home than on the road".

[Fafnir]

I think the main problem is how we start games. The recipe for being dominate at home is punish teams in the first half and getting the crowd behind you for the game. Then you finish them off with the starters in the third, the bench is in for the garbage time in the fourth.

The C's seem to be trading buckets a lot in the first half this season to me.

[JBcat]

Well the Phoenix loss the Suns were playing out of their minds and I thought we played well that game.  

Same thing with Atlanta.   That team was just rolling then.

The Orlando loss was ugly though.

I think there were multiple reasons why we are playing better now altogether than earlier where most of our games were at home.   One KG seems much better out there and took him some games to feel confident with his knee.   Rondo seems much more aggressive lately and even taking and hitting some outside shots with confidence.   Lastly I don't think this can be overlooked.   We went through a 8 game in 12 day stretch with hardly any practice time.   Doc said himself the team needed some time at the gym to work on things.   It's showing now and I expect more convincing wins at home.  

[Fafnir]

Well the Phoenix loss the Suns were playing out of their minds and I thought we played well that game.  

Same thing with Atlanta.   That team was just rolling then.

The Orlando loss was ugly though.

I think there were multiple reasons why we are playing better now altogether than earlier where most of our games were at home.   One KG seems much better out there and took him some games to feel confident with his knee.   Rondo seems much more aggressive lately and even taking and hitting some outside shots with confidence.   Lastly I don't think this can be overlooked.   We went through a 8 game in 12 day stretch with hardly any practice time.   Doc said himself the team needed some time at the gym to work on things.   It's showing now and I expect more convincing wins at home.  

I don't think you can just shrug off those losses. I mean dominant home teams are supposed to beat other good teams aren't they?

Until the C's play Orlando/Atlanta again I'm going to be somewhat worried about how we match up with them.

[Kiorrik]

I don't think you can just shrug off those losses. I mean dominant home teams are supposed to beat other good teams aren't they?

Until the C's play Orlando/Atlanta again I'm going to be somewhat worried about how we match up with them.

We're not a dominant *home* team, we're a dominant team period.

That's why I think we shouldn't read too much into the very few losses we've had. We're 20 and 4. That is absolutely awesome, and if we keep this up, we'll be something like 68 and 14. Lets be fair and admit that this is a very solid record.

You could also say that, with a lowly 14 losses, the sample size is a bit low to make anything out of the home vs away discussion... and honestly, with just 4 home losses, I don't think we can even begin discussing whether we're a home or an away team.

.edit: Unless of course you start analyzing all the in game statistics for away games vs home games, other than just the win-or-lose variable.

[JBcat]

Well the Phoenix loss the Suns were playing out of their minds and I thought we played well that game.  

Same thing with Atlanta.   That team was just rolling then.

The Orlando loss was ugly though.

I think there were multiple reasons why we are playing better now altogether than earlier where most of our games were at home.   One KG seems much better out there and took him some games to feel confident with his knee.   Rondo seems much more aggressive lately and even taking and hitting some outside shots with confidence.   Lastly I don't think this can be overlooked.   We went through a 8 game in 12 day stretch with hardly any practice time.   Doc said himself the team needed some time at the gym to work on things.   It's showing now and I expect more convincing wins at home.  

I don't think you can just shrug off those losses. I mean dominant home teams are supposed to beat other good teams aren't they?

Until the C's play Orlando/Atlanta again I'm going to be somewhat worried about how we match up with them.

Well I don't think we really were a dominant team real early in the season.   Now I think we are much closer to being one.  Still got to cure the rebounding woes.   We have to keep in mind what a crazy schedule we had to.   We had I believe more back to back games played than any other team in the league before we went on this winning streak.

Yes I'm still worried as well with how we matchup with such an athletic Atlanta team.  With Orlando I think we can keep them in check as long we don't play so horribly the next time we see them which is Christmas day.   Can't wait for that game. 

[hwangjini_1]

when will the celtics be dominant at home again?

i would say in the next 3 games. given their opponents i expect the celtics to romp and the bench to get playing time.

[Redz]

When they start playing at home again!

AKA - SOON

[nickagneta]

Their three losses at home came while slumping and against 3 of the six best teams in the league. Give this team some extended home cooking and watch the dominance start. It should be a very good three game home streak.

[Redz]

Their three losses at home came while slumping and against 3 of the six best teams in the league. Give this team some extended home cooking and watch the dominance start. It should be a very good three game home streak.

Yup, and on top of that Phoenix was playing better then than they are now.

Celts be jellin'

[Drucci]

I think I've been misunderstood : I wasn't specifically refering to our three losses at home to point out that the we are not dominant at home, but to the fact that so far, this season, except for our first home games (Bobcats and Bulls) we have played poorly at home in comparison to our level on the road. We struggled to beat the Sixers, the Bucks, the Warriors and even the Raptors in Boston ; none of this team can be considered a good one like Atlanta, Phoenix and Orlando ; either we finally got rid of them very late in the game (mid 3rd quarter or 4th quarter - Warriors and Raptors) or we've played them close till the end (against the Sixers and Bucks).

Also, I remember reading in the game threads that I was not the only one to feel like our team is playing really sloppier and even sometimes uninspired (especially on D) when it plays in Boston. It's a fact, I think, we can all agree on : the Celtics, without even looking at the W/L record at home and on the road, have played better on the road than in the Garden. Regardless of our number of wins and losses at home, the majority of our worst games have been played in Boston and not on the road (you can argue the game in NY was our worst on the road while our two games against Atlanta and Phoenix were our worst of the season so far, defensively - I'm not counting the Orlando game where we played good D but just didn't make shots, that happens).

And don't put all the explanations on our slump : the Bucks game didn't take place during our slump but right between our two road trips where we have been excellent. It has nothing to do with the slump.

I acknowledge that we have not played enough home games to be sure, but don't you feel like the Celtics play with excessive complacency when they're at home, feeling like things will come to them? Paul Pierce stated it himself today :
“It’s something that we needed, because we know we’ve been struggling at home.Sometimes what it takes is a good road trip to bring things together, and that’s where we’ve started to get things together. You have no choice but to focus and do a bit more. Even though it’s not easy winning games on the road, I think sometimes you can get complacent when you’re at home, feeling like things are going to go your way. That’s not necessarily the truth, but on the road you’ve got to come with your best effort.”

I hope that the Celtics will re-establish their dominance or inspired plays at home during the season but so far I find it really weird to be more comfortable and confident about a win when they play away rather than in Boston...

[Drucci]

Maybe my original point will be taken more seriously now.

4 losses in Boston for the season and we're in mid-December... plain awful.

[celticinorlando]

they suck at home for some reason

[pengaloo]

They look so unfocused when playing at home. It's like they're still thinking about Christmas shopping or something.