Encouraging playoff trend should calm Boston Celtics fans ahead of Game 3
By Eric Fritts
Heading into Miami without a win in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals is a cause for concern. It raises many questions, mainly asking if this Boston Celtics team can get out of its own way. The Celtics now travel into Miami at a severe home-court disadvantage, down 0-2. Basketball-wise, this team has to find some form of consistency to win a championship. Something to hang their hats on, something to boost their confidence and give them playoff identity?
Could how they play on the road be that for them?
There has been a fair amount of concert about how the team performs at home. They’re 4-5 in these playoffs and were 6-6 in the 2022 post-season. Yet still, both teams found their way to at least the third round. This means that while they play poorly on the road, the inverse must also be true. They play well on the road.
In 2022, the Boston Celtics were 8-4 not playing in TD Garden. Thus far this year, they’re 4-2. At the end of round one against the Atlanta Hawks, Jayson Tatum said they should have finished the series in Boston in five games, apologizing to Janet Jackson because game six postponed her concert in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. But maybe this team needed that game six win on the road, given the position they find themselves now in.
Looking specifically at last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, Boston won three games in Miami. It’s strange, but it could just be that the Celtics prefer playing on the road. If they want to have any hope of keeping their season alive, they’ll need to be near perfect from here on out.
The Boston Celtics continue to paint themselves into a corner
Regardless, this group has been frustrating to watch. When everything is humming, they look unbeatable. But when things are a step off, it’s easy to wonder how they made it this far. It seems they find ways to show up in absolute dire moments, while literally dropping the ball in others. Maybe this group just likes the pressure, and playing on the road just adds to that. They have found ways to perform after painting themselves into corners.
They need to do it again, or else very uncomfortable roster questions will need to be addressed very quickly.
Looking at what this team has been through together, they have what it takes. They’ve been to the top of the mountain and fallen, they’ve been through battles together. Some they’ve won, others they turned up short. Now they need to find a way to put it all together, the good the bad, the strategy, the energy, everything. If for some reason they like the duress, and can only play to the top of their abilities when most suspenseful, now is their time.