NBA Special: Key to the Eastern Conference Finals lies in Miami
The significance of the Miami Heat’s game-2 win over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center will resonate throughout the series. Miami’s win not only levelled the series, it also offset the hoe court advantage Chicago had gained
over the season with their impressive record. Chicago Bulls were the number one seed in the NBA playoffs this year and as such they had home advantage throughout the series.
However, the loss in the 2nd game means that it is Miami and not Chicago that have the edge from now on. To advance into the NBA Finals, the Heat just need to win their home games. Home court advantage counts a lot in
the playoffs and is often the difference between a gruelling seven game loss and a thrilling final game win.
The advantages of home-court are largely psychological, but that doesn’t mean they are negligible. The home support, lack of travel tiredness and familiarity with the court and the arena make a big difference in a player’s performance.
There’s also rather a ‘for granted’ belief that a team is favourite at its own turf and that gets the players charged up.
This advantage is all the more significant for Miami, who are the only team in left in the playoffs with a hundred percent home record. There is a belief in the Heat camp that with the road to the finals running through Miami,
they are firmly in the driver’s seat now.
"We beat the best team in the league on their floor and now the pressure is to keep home-court advantage - and that's extremely important," Heat forward Chris Bosh said Friday. "So, yeah, if we defend home-court from here on out,
you can do the math."
The Heat are a formidable unit at home. They are 6-0 in the playoffs and have been strong at home over the years. Dwyane Wade, one of the longest serving Heat players, has a hugely impressive playoff home record of 32-8, a whopping
80 percent.
Home advantage doesn’t mean that the series is done and dusted though. Any team that has reached the Conference Finals would be mentally tough enough to be able to play in hostile arenas. And they don’t get tougher than this Chicago
side, who have time and again succeeded in the face of adversity this season.
Chicago also beat the Heat in their only game at the American Airlines Arena in the regular season. The Bulls rallied from a 12 point deficit that night and eventually overcame the Heat 87 – 86. From that moment onwards, Chicago
sprinted to an amazing 14-3 run in away games.
Miami superstar LeBron James is mindful of the above fact and dismissed any notion of overconfidence in the Heat camp, "There's no time for an exhale," James said. "We're in the conference finals. We understand that this team is
a very hardworking team and they're coming to try to steal home-court back. We've done some great things on our home court in this postseason and we'd like to continue to do that. Our fans deserve it."
Game-3 will be an interesting battle to say the least.
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