Playoff Thoughts

1.    Boston Beaning:    With the outlier of the Detroit series, the Finals appear to have mirrored Boston other playoff series quite a bit.  The Celts are playing like a formidable 66-win team at home.  They've controlled most of the first two games, with the exception of the Lakers flurry at the end of the Game Two.  So far, the difference in the series really has been Paul Pierce, who has 26 ppg on .615% and is shooting 7-8 from three.  Throw in the fact that Ray Allen has been more efficient … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

1.    Lakers-Celtics...blah...blah...blah:    Did you hear?  The Lakers and playing the Celtics and they may have even met before.  We've all touched on the history of the Lakers and Celtics and such.  ESPN.com and Classic Sports have been all over this story, giving us all a chance to re-live the old series.  Last time, we cursorily explored how the Lakers and Celtics have met 10 times in the Finals, with the Bill Russell Celtics beating the Lakers all seven times they played and Magic Johnson … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

1.    L.A. Land:    The Lakers impressively dispatched the Spurs to make their first NBA Finals since they lost to the Pistons in 2003-04.  It's hard to figure why the Lakers were able to excel this entire series, winning easily in two games and erasing big Spurs leads in the other games.  In the end, the Spurs had no answer for Kobe Bryant and couldn't muster enough points to stave off the inevitable Laker runs.  Going forward, no matter who wins in the East, we will have a historical … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

1.    More Home Stuff:    Last night, the Celts, were again beaten on the road to drop their road record 0-6 in the playoffs.  We reviewed this a bit last time but I wondered how unique this playoff's home dominance was.  Fortunately (for me), John Hollinger was kind enough to beat us to the research punch, letting us know in a great article today that home playoff teams won 65% of second round games in the 2000s.  This year the home teams are winning at a 95% rate (until the Lakers beat the … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

1.    Homing In:    After the Cavs win tonight in Cleveland, home teams have now one every game this round, with the exception of Orlando's loss at home in Game 4 against the Pistons (even this was a one-point loss).  This trend of home winning raises some interesting questions. The most obvious questions: Are the lower seeds ultimately doomed in round two?  Is this home winning trend a historical anomaly?  Let's start look at each series and see if we can answer these questions and others that … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

1.    Philly-Detroit:    When Philly took game one, I considered this a complete aberration.  Imagine my surprise to see the Sixers beat up the Pistons in game 3 to put the Pistons in a seriously defensive posture.  Yes, Philly matches up well at the point against Chauncey Billups because Andre Miller was playing well and couldn't be overpowered by Billups' size.  But the Sixers' front court really can't match up the depth the Pistons offer.  The Pistons also have a demonstrated history of … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts