See you Saturday
After two games in Boston, the Eastern Conference Finals shifts to Detroit for Games 3 and 4 this weekend.
“It’s going to be crazy,” said Detroit’s Rip Hamilton. “We’ve got the best fans in the NBA. Everybody knows about the Palace at Auburn Hills. We’re geeked about getting back to our home court. Our fans are excited, and now it’s our job to go and take care of home court.”
By now everyone knows the math. The Celtics were 9-0 at home in the postseason coming into Game 2 (they’re 9-1 after tonight’s loss), and they’re 0-6 on the road. Boston needs to win at least one road game in order to advance to the NBA Finals.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge for us being that we haven’t won a road game,” said Celtics forward Paul Pierce. “But I don’t think it’s really bothering us psychologically. I thought the last three road games that we played, we really played well but came up on the short end of the stick. I can see this team growing defensively, especially on the road. I think we’re going to put out a better effort.”
Before tonight, the Celtics could have technically won a title without winning on the road. Their 66 wins in the regular season earned them that right.
“We’ve gotten away with it thus far,” said Doc Rivers. “That’s been taken away. And if we want what we want, we have to win on the road, and that’s just the way it is.”
To a man, Celtics players didn’t seem fazed by having to steal one in Detroit. They won there in the regular season. But the pressure’s really on now.
“I like that pressure,” said Kendrick Perkins. “I think that’s good for us, and you know we’ve been through a lot of adversity this year. One more thing ain’t going to hurt us.”
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