What role did home court advantage play in Celtics-Wizards?
We learned how valuable home court advantage can be during the Eastern Conference Semifinal between the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards
The Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards won each of their home gams in their seven game series in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Would we be seeing a Wizards-Cavaliers Eastern Conference Finals if the Wizards had the home court edge in this series? Probably. Neither team seemed to be able to top the other on the road. This also gave the Cavaliers a lot more time to rest.
Everyone who has ever played or watched a sport knows the term “home court advantage.” Teams just don’t want to lose in front of their home crowd. And with the home crowd behind them, their energy level tends to match that.
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The Wizards almost won a road game in Game 2. They went to Boston and went on a run that made it look like they were going to win. However, Isaiah Thomas had the performance of a lifetime and came up with 53 points and the Celtics won by 10 in overtime.
The circumstances for Thomas were tragic with his sister’s recent death. Despite that, he was able to give everything he had in this series and that game specifically in front of his home crowd.
Every game in this series was won by double-digits except for Game 6. The Wizards won that game at home by a single point on a game-winner from John Wall. The Celtics almost ended the series there, but they just couldn’t stop that last shot from Wall. Despite the large leads in the other games, this was one of the most entertaining series so far in the playoffs.
As the series unfolded, it was amazing to see each team triumph at home. There are some teams where home court advantage doesn’t really apply (Warriors, Cavs, and Spurs come to mind) because they’re just so good. But the fact that this deep into the playoffs that advantage still mattered is amazing in itself. A lot of series never see a Game 7 and that’s because at this level, teams are able to win on the road.
The Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards obviously won road games during the season. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have survived in the playoffs or possibly even made them in the first place. I think that it mattered in this series because of how each team plays.
Isaiah Thomas was the Celtics leading scorer in three of the four home games and Bradley Beal was the leading scorer for the Wizards in two of their three games. The big name players on each team seemed to thrive way more at home. While this might have been the case during the regular season, they were more often able to play inferior teams on the road instead of the same team for seven games in a row.
Must Read: Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal Had A Career-Defining Moment In Game 7
This might seem like an elementary point to make about home court advantage, but you have to admit that we don’t see this often in the playoffs, let alone in the semifinal round where the competition is at a higher level. Home court advantage was the little push that each team needed to get the wins at home. It just so happens that the Celtics had the upper hand this time.