"Playoff Atmosphere" Wins Will Pay Off

Last night the Wizards and Raptors proved that a lot can change in game three when a team gets to play on their home court.  Does that concern us?  Not really.  Why?  Well, because the Hawks just aren't that good.  But also because we've been battle tested.  Remember all those big regular season games that felt like playoff games?  That was just practice for this.  From Marc Spears:

In March, Boston became the first team to sweep the Texas Triangle - wins at San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas - since Sacramento in November of 2001.

The Celtics have won 13 of their last 15 on the road.

"The San Antonio win was a good win because they were killing us," Rivers said. "And the Laker win was a good win because of the playoff atmosphere. Detroit . . . clearly, those were the three teams. Dallas was another one. Those wins were good wins for us because of the atmosphere, environment.

"The Lakers and the Pistons game stood out to me as far as playoff atmosphere. You're not going to get much more than that. Houston was different because that was more about [the Rockets' 22-game win] streak [we snapped]. We were the uninvited guests.

"You got to win on the road in the playoffs," added Rivers. "That's why winning on the road in the regular season was good for us. I don't think our guys are worried about where they play. They believe they should win on the road."