It sure is tight......although the lakers have just lost in reg and lost in OT

If Utah pip one....im scared...they are unbeatable at home

I was actually going to post about this - so far (excluding today's games) it's been an extremely high rate of wins for the home teams - so far the only conference semi that hasn't suffered this is Detroit/Orlando, NOH/SAS, LAL/UTA and CLE/BOS have all been %100 win to the home team.

I haven't followed the NBA as closely as I have this year for years, so I wasn't sure if it was a regular phenomenon or not.

It makes the playoffs just that little more dull; the Atlanta home games were exciting because they were able to peg 3 back against Boston where most people didn't think they'd get 1.

Lakers shot nearly three times as many free throws as Utah while playing in LA.
Reading the game reports from yesterday and they are talking of the free throw disparity in Utah's favour while in Utah.
These are not small numbers.
We are talking game changing numbers.
Whether its an OT game or a 10pt win, shooting 20 more at the line and hitting 15 of em is the game done and dusted.

The question becomes, home crowds influencing the refs? Or home crowds influencing the players efforts?

Or Stern and the league influencing the refs?

I've certainly noticed the home teams winning most home games this year in the playoffs.

Thanks Billo for bringing this topic up for discussion.

isaac- rasheed has been calling out stern and the league for influencing games for just about his whole career. It is a business for stern, you would imagine a lakers celtics finals would be his dream, lets see if it happens...

According to the ESPN panel of "experts" things are about to change. I noticed that all but Hollinger have picked the Spurs to win the series, with a few picking them in 6.

All the media I've read suggest that the last two wins were clinical, and that Duncan was very ill in games 1 and 2, game 1 in particular. I wasn't aware of that until after game 3.

Anyone agree with ESPN's panel? Or are they writing off the Hornets too quickly?

I really think playoffs are about match-ups and getting the right one for your team.

Spurs have a proven ability to scout opposition, find a weakness and exploit it.

Case in point, the Hornets players rely on getting the ball hand delivered by Paul.

They tried to stop Paul at first, failed, decided to stop the others, and now it looks real grim for the Hornets.

They will need their coaching panel to come up with a solution as quickly as the spurs were able to.

I think the Hornets will do better on D while playing at home, they may also hit some shots they missed while on the road, but unless they counter the spurs def tactic, the odds are with the spurs.

The ball is in Byron Scott's court. Lets see what the "coach of the year" comes up with.

So far in round 2 of these playoffs the home side has won 14 of the 15 matches played. I'm not sure what the first round was like ...

Since I am at work and have plenty of time, I looked it up. In the West, Utah won two in Houston then lost one at home(!), and the Lakers won two in Denver to sweep their series. Spurs and NOH both won a road game and closed out at home 4-1. The Home team went 13-7 in the First Round in the West, which is still a big advantage.

In the East, Pistons won twice on the road but dropped the Home opener, and the Magic won a road game and closed out at home 4-1. Cavs won twice on the Road but dropped one at Home. The Home-Road record in the East was 17-7, inflated by the Celts-Hawks series where the Home team was a perfect 7-0.

Overall, the First Round was 30-14 in favor of the Home team.