The visiting side has been getting creamed in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
Road teams, heding nto last night, were 1-15. The Boston Celtics, who had the best regular-season road record at 31-10, were 0-2 (and 0-5 in the post-season). Only Detroit, with a 90-89 over Orlando in Game 4 of their series, had won away from home.
Teams fared a little better on the road in Round 1, where they went 10-44 (22.7%). But that was down substantially from the season (39.9%).
Just what is causing this? Fans and analysts have their reasons, which range from the believable to the absurd:
Officiating Bill Reynolds of Scripps Howard News Service blames the referees and star power. "If Paul Pierce needs three steps to get to the basket, he will get three steps,
" Reynolds writes. "If LeBron James needs to knock someone down to get to the basket, he will be allowed to do so.
"
The crowd factor Plausible, but tough to prove. On the sports blog FanIQ, "100%InjuryRate
" writes: "Any athlete whose performance is somehow significantly tied to a crowd isn't a pro athlete.
"
Travel Hard to believe when the longest flight, Detroit to Orlando, is a little more than 2 1/2 hours via commercial airline. And when did NBA players last fly commercial?
Conspiracy Some speculate commissioner David Stern has asked the road teams to lose to stretch out the playoffs and make more money.
If the trend continues, Boston and Detroit will meet in the East final, L. A. and New Orleans in the West. And the Lakers and Celtics will play in the NBA Finals.
