Boston Celtics Road Success Will be Put to the Test

The Boston Celtics will need to continue to be the best road team to get a victory in Washington

The Boston Celtics not only entered the playoffs as the top seed, with home court secured up to the finals, but they were also bringing in the best road record in the Eastern Conference. That ability to win on the road was put to an immediate test. Dropping the first two to the Chicago Bulls meant they had no choice other than to win on the road, and it was no problem at all.

That being said, winning just one game in Washington is going to be tougher than winning two in a row against the Bulls. The Celtics came into this series knowing how important home court advantage was because of the Wizards’ struggles on the road. The pressure from the Wizards comes with their second best Eastern Conference home record. The Celtics finished tied with them, but the Wizards have more of a drastic difference in their level of play at home as opposed to the road.

The Celtics took a pretty tough punch from the Wizards playing in Boston, but they will be anticipating more in Washington. Right now, the Celtics have full control over the series, but that is completely flipped if they drop both games in Washington.

The pressure is not on the Celtics to win both games and sweep the Wizards, but they will be facing their toughest test of the season trying to get back to Boston with a 3-1 lead. Neither of these teams will forget how the trajectory of a series can change after the first round, and the Celtics have an opportunity to get their stronghold on the series with only a split.

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The Celtics know that the Wizards always bring their very best when they are at home, and that is why their road success will be tested. The Celtics have been playing phenomenal offense in the last two games, and with how much they depend on rhythm and intensity, playing in front of the TD Garden crowd could very well have had an impact.

The Celtics will have a game plan and ultimately all that matters is execution, but it is comforting to know that the Celtics have not seen a significant drop off in their quality of play on the road, a problem that followed the Wizards all season long.

The Celtics are also in a curious position where their starting lineup is still a mystery. Amir Johnson returned to the starting lineup to play just five minutes. With Gerald Green glued to the bench it appears to be a battle between Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Kelly Olynyk or even Jaylen Brown right now.

No matter what the starting lineup is, the Celtics could be at a bit of a risk at the start of the game again. The Celtics have withstood two dominant first quarters from the Wizards, but those comebacks will be a lot more difficult on the road.

It is a lot easier for the players to keep up the intensity despite playing poorly with the crowd giving them that inspiration. In Washington, the Celtics have to make sure they are not discouraged or impacted in any way by the sway of the crowd. They need to make sure they stick to dictating the pace of the game with their play.

The Celtics are an emotional team, and as long as they control their emotions properly, the crowd will not be a concern. There will, however, also be an impact on the Wizards. These two games have featured all kinds of crazy runs on both sides.

It has happened on multiple occasions where the Wizards have appeared to take their gas off the petal, making it easier for the Celtics to go on a run that gets the crowd back involved. In Washington, they will have the crowd erupting any time they built on a lead, making it a lot more important that the starting lineup does not collapse for the third straight game.

There are a lot of factors related to where the game is being played that can be speculated on. It can have an impact, but it will never be the determining factor. The Celtics have been inconsistent, but they have seen their best on offense and on defense, and if everything else is blocked out and all they focus on is playing at that level, they should get out of Washington with the results they need.

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All the Wizards have to do is defend their home court the way the Celtics did, and this turns into a three game series. The pressure will reach a new high, however, because if the best road team in the conference steals just one game, the Wizards will be dead in the water.

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