With tonight's loss in Cleveland, the Boston Celtics have now dropped to 0-6 away from home. Now, by this time, every sports station and website has already pointed out that that record is the worst for a #1 seed. While that is a little unnerving, it should not be looked at as something that will ruin the C's title hopes. Obviously, they are going to probably have to win a road game sometime this postseason (although you never know), but the fact that people are reacting as if this is the end of the world is a big overreaction. If you go back to their first opponent, the Atlanta Hawks, you will see that their home record is 25-16, while their road record is 12-29. Obviously, the Hawks were a much better home team. Add to that the sudden home court advantage, a la the 2007 Golden St. Warriors in the first round, and all of the sudden things become much more difficult. However, let's not forget that the Celtics had both games 4 and 6 all but won before a big rally from the Hawks snatched the games away. That is what is supposed to happen if the home team is losing, they are supposed to make a run.
Now, in this series with the Cavs there is another factor at work. The LeBron James factor. With LeBron's ability to take over games, life becomes even tougher for the Celtics. When LeBron decides to truly take over a game, the defense stands no chance, just ask the Detroit Pistons. A look at the Cavs record reveals that they are 27-14 at home as opposed to 18-23 on the road. The reason for this is very simple: Role players generally play better when they are at home. Of course, everyone is going to compare Boston and Detroit, should the Celtics win game 7, and say Detroit has the advantage because they won road games. However, the two opponents Detroit played, Orlando and Philadelphia, didn't have the major disparites in home/road records as the two Boston opponents. Philly was only 4 games better at home, and Orlando was actually 2 games worse. Philadelphia's is somewhat understandable because they are a young team and a young team can sometimes feel added pressure in front of their home crowd. As for Orlando, I got nothing, that doesn't make much sense.
Finally, there is Boston's road record to disect. It is no secret the Celtics had the best road record at 31-10, but 6 of those games were decided by 4 points or less. Let's just say they go 3-3 instead of 6-0. All of a sudden their road record is down to 28-13. Still the best in the league, but not by as wide a margin. Does that mean everything is ok? No, not at all. Boston is going to need a road game down the stretch here, or they are going to be living on the edge in every home game. However, at the same time, this could be looked at as the close ones not going their way. If you are an optimist, just look at it like this: As long as the Celtics keep winning at home, they will play more games on the road, and the more road games they have, the more chances they will have to win one.