Fans impact the game. Will tonight’s count help the Suns take a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals?
Last year, on October 11, 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers won the Finals over the Miami Heat. During their 21-game playoff run, there were no fans in the stands, the playoffs were played in a bubble.
When the 2020-21 season started in December, only six — the Jazz, Pelicans, Cavaliers, Rockets, Magic, and Raptors — of the 30 NBA teams were hosting fans. By the end of the 2020-21 campaign, 29 of the 30 teams had fans in the stands. The Oklahoma City Thunder was the only team not to have fans in attendance for the duration of the season.
This brings me to my point, fans impact the outcome on the hardwood. The home team plays off their energy and conversely, a raucous home crowd can rattle the road team. Therefore, it is no wonder thus far in the series both teams are 2-0 at home versus 0-2 on the road.
Playing at home rather than on the road has benefited no player more than it has for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. That is because of the charity stripe.
Inside Fiserv Forum, Giannis has gone 17-25 at the line, versus going 18-30 inside the Suns’ Footprint Center (formerly known as Talking Stick Resort Arena.) The reason for the disparity in his free shooting is due to the crowd’s counting.
During the playoffs, Giannis has drawn criticism because he takes so long to shoot the ball during his foul shots. Per NBA rules, each player has 10 seconds to complete their free-throw routine. Antetokounmpo takes much longer between 12-14 seconds. He is rarely called for the violation.
During their series in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hawks fans took not and began to count when the Greek Freak would take the line. This is one of the coolest chants I’ve heard in the league in some time. It is so loud and so overbearing, it resembles a college arena during March Madness.
At one point during the series, Giannis even addressed the comments during his post-game presser. More times than not, players act coy when asked if they can hear different chants, Giannis admitted, yes he can hear them and explained how it forces him to adjust.
Time is running out for such adjustments because there is now a maximum of three games left in this series and the count is here to stay. The question is how much of an impact will it make in a pivotal Game 5 tonight.