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Houston repeated as NBA champions entering the playoffs that season as the sixth seed. They were the second seed the previous season. But, I don't believe Boston will finish worst than the third seed. Still, Boston can be inspired to overcome the odds against them to reach the NBA Finals if they fail to secure home court advantage.



http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1994.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1995.html

bonsaiflipflops wrote:Houston repeated as NBA champions entering the playoffs that season as the sixth seed. They were the second seed the previous season. But, I don't believe Boston will finish worst than the third seed. Still, Boston can be inspired to overcome the odds against them to reach the NBA Finals if they fail to secure home court advantage.



http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1994.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1995.html

Excellent point.....

everyone has just jumped on the 'need home court to win' idea, where as how many teams have won the title without being the number 1 seed?

a lot

good post
this forum has too much pessimism after a loss.

Great stat, Av.

Here are the championships won for every seed.

1: a bunch
2: a little less than a bunch
3: eh, a few
4: not too many
5: I forget
6: more than you think
7: probably none
8: I doubt any

Add 2-8: a lot

The stats bear it out and the difference between 'a bunch' and 'a lot' is only 'a little'.

GO CELTS!!

Bleeding Green wrote:Great stat, Av.

Here are the championships won for every seed.

1: a bunch
2: a little less than a bunch
3: eh, a few
4: not too many
5: I forget
6: more than you think
7: probably none
8: I doubt any

Add 2-8: a lot

The stats bear it out and the difference between 'a bunch' and 'a lot' is only 'a little'.

GO CELTS!!

exactly!

im a stat guru obviously

My point is: There's still reason to believe that Boston can come out of the east if they don't have home court advantage. It's just that the task ahead of them is a big challenge. Cleveland probably believes that they'd Boston on the ropes if not for being the road team. Hence, this season, they're hellbent on securing home court advantage. So, much so that LeBron is declaring that he wants to increase his minutes to better the chances of Cleveland winning more of their games. What I don't like is that not only has Boston fallen behind... But, with every lost, Orlando's gaining more and more confidence that they can now play for the second seed as oppose to the third seed.

Injuries really can derail a team's momentum. Last season, Boston was fortunate enough not to lose Garnett that long and everyone else remain reasonably healthy.

I still feel Boston's a good team. But, the day I throw in the white towel for home court advantage is drawing near. I thought that there was still a chance until Rondo got hurt. When that happened... I was convinced that it wasn't meant to be the top seed this season. It's now Cleveland's position to lose.

If Doc won't control the minites of PP/Ray. They won't have much tank left for inspiration.

bc legends wrote:good post
this forum has too much pessimism after a loss.

spot on! this post saved my life.....was gettin desperate after his loss...........................................I KID!

The C's will have another winning run soon....he playoffs will be a struggle....but we will play some great games, some not so great ones and get deep.....GO C's!

Avalanche wrote:everyone has just jumped on the 'need home court to win' idea, where as how many teams have won the title without being the number 1 seed?

a lot

No kidding. I am getting so **** sick and tired of this "#1 seed or no chance" crew that is so **** vocal on here. They can all go **** off if they fear the Cavs that much...

Go Celtics!

I guess one can put the positive spin on this by saying that the pressure falls on Cleveland to come out of the east with having the home court advantage. If they've home court advantage...

It just feels to me ironic that the theme last playoffs with Boston was about winning on the road and Rondo. This playoffs, is shaping up to follow the same two theme only it isn't so much about Rondo as it's about his backup, Marbury.

another thing, is its obvious at this point Cleveland are pushing for home court... and in the playoffs they wil have this "we have home court" swagger through most games, even losses will be softened knowing they will go back home and win... .well what if they dont? what if we beat them in the first away game? that will screw with their confidence and emotion in a big way, knowing the team that beat them last season just took their advantage away. they arent invincible at home, sure this season they have been amazing there but when the big games hit, we are the champs, we have the talent, and we can beat them anywhere, especially if its just one time

if the celtics win one of the first 2 in cleveland.. they could finish it in 6 games by winning their three home games.

2, 2, 1, 1, 1

So win one of the first 2, win both at home, and then win one of the next three... the key is to go up 3-1. Easy to say but...

truthfully, cleveland hasn't really seen boston at its best this year

it'll come in time. We all know how good cleveland is, but sometimes it seems like Celtics fans tend to overstate and overrate the Cavs, because of that 7 game experience with us. Sure, we are probably closer than any two teams to have topped a conference in recent history.. but it's not that different in the past. Shaq/Kobe Lakers fans were always weary about the Kings, even though most non-Lakers/non-Kings fans knew that the Lake show would prevail

Ask any nba fan who is not a cavs fan, not a celtics fan, and not a celtics hater. They're not going to be as worried for Boston in a Boston-Cleveland series, as Boston Celtics fans are.

There's more disparity between our teams (to our benefit) than we or Cavs fans realize.

then again, that biased perception of Celtics fans (the tendency to overestimate the Cavs compared to most non-Celtics/non-Cavs fans) might not only stem from the 7 game experience. It might stem from the uncertainty that is LeBron.

Our cumulative team when healthy is better than their complete team when healthy, in spite of their depth. But what we don't know is whether LeBron can go to a gear we've never seen before. We saw some shades of that in the second Cavs game this year, but not really. I'm talking circa Pistons series, or something like that. If the LeBron we face in the playoffs is the LeBron that 'we' saw against Boston in the regular season, you can't be that scared provided our whole team is healthy.. because you know Pierce can match 'that' and that our team is better than theirs.

Why the hell would we look to another franchise for inspiration? One need not look any further than the 1969 Boston Celtics championship squad.

Also, Cleveland is motivated to keep winning at home to tie the 1985-1986 Celtics team that posted a 40-1 regular season record at home.

Cleavland's last regular season home game is against Philadelphia. Their second to last is against Boston.

And the Celtics were virtually unbeatable at home, losing only a game in December to Portland en route to a league-record 40-1 home mark (they would also win all 10 home playoff games).

http://www.nba.com/history/86celtics.html

In the end, the best team in the NBA's going to win. If we don't win, it's not because we missed out on home court, it's because we just flat out weren't the best team in the NBA. Look at healthy matchups, not seeding, when deciding if you think we have a good chance or not.