Home Isn’t Sweet Home For Celtics
By bpaul
I assume all of you have heard or said the pharse “home sweet home” at one point during your lives, and usually when you return home it is something to look forward to, correct? Well maybe for some, but not so much for others. So far this year home is the worst place the Boston Celtics could be. The guys that call the TD Garden home currenty hold a 16-11 record in their battles on the parquet floor.
This year the Garden has tranformed from a place opponents dreaded to play in, to a place where every single opposing team is coming in thinking they can leave with a win. And when I say every opposing team, that now includes the six-win New Jersey Nets. The Nets walked into the Garden today, started slow down 12-2, and didn’t lose the mindset that they could still leave Boston with a victory. In past years this is not something you would expect from an opposing team at the TD Garden.
So let’s take some time real quick to go over the list of teams they have lost to at the TD Garden:
- Phoenix Suns
- Atlanta Hawks (2)
- Orlando Magic (2)
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Chicago Bulls
- Dallas Mavericks
- L.A Lakers
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- New Jersey Nets
What you should take from that list is that the Celtics have not beaten a quality opponent at home at this point of the season. Along with that they also have ridiculous losses against the 76ers, Bulls, and Nets. All of which are teams an elite team like the Celtics should be taking care of.
So that leads us to the question of what is wrong with this team when they step onto the parquet floor. Is it the crowd’s intensity? Is it the player’s intensity? Is it the player’s focus? Just like with the Celtics poor play, you can’t really pinpoint one exact reason as to why they are struggling at home. It is a combination of multiple things that are resulting in the Celtics far from impressive 16-11 home record.
It all starts with the intensity of the guys who are out there playing on the basketball court. The past two year’s intensity has been something that the Celtics have been known for, and this year it is pretty much non-existant. Remember the day’s of KG beating his chest almost EVERY SINGLE GAME? Remember the day’s when we use to see the bench waving towel’s in support of the guys out on the court? I’m not sure about you, but I sure do. This year all of this seems to be missing and it is rubbing off not only on the entire team, but also the fans.
I’m not really going to start in with my opinion of the crowds at the Garden this year but I will keep it short and say that they have been pathetic. At times, like today, there has been reason for the fans not to be reaching “Garden Level” but for the most part the fans this year seem to be quitting on the team way too early. Not only are they quitting on the team, but when the team actually gets out to a lead the fans are not bringing the intensity that they did the past two years. Maybe they are getting bored with it, or maybe it is a different crowd? Whatever it is, it needs to change once playoff time comes around.
Okay, venting is over. Looking foward the Celtics still have 14 home games left on the season. Of those 14 games, 11 of them are games the Celtics are expected to win. The exceptions being games against Cleveland, Denver, and Oklahoma City. If the Celtics can’t finish the year winning at least ten of those home games then it will be time to rely on the “Road Warriors” mentality and hope they can get the job done on the road during the postseason.