Sam Smith

There's one big surprise of the 2008 NBA playoffs, and it's not that 3-pointer by Tim Duncan in Game 1 of the Spurs-Suns opening-round series.

Actually, the biggest head scratcher in these playoffs has been the remarkable inability of teams — even the best ones — to win on the road.

The Boston Celtics, with the league's best record, failed to win a game in Atlanta in the opening-round series against the only playoff team with a sub-.500 record. San Antonio, this era's NBA dynasty with four championships since 1999, is coming off three blowout losses in New Orleans.

In the conference semifinals, the home teams have won 22 of 24 games with the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers the only team to win a road game.

Can't anyone here play this game on the road?

Surprisingly, it doesn't look like it, which doesn't speak well for this era's teams. Great teams win on the road in the NBA. Can you win a championship without being considered a great team? Some team seems on the way to that. The ring still looks good anyway you get it, but if this continues none of the top teams in league history are going to have competition.

But first, a little explanation:

Being better at home has nothing to do with "home cookin'," or sleeping in your own bed, or one of those moronic aphorisms players recite mindlessly to reporters, who then generally shake their heads knowingly as if they've received some sort of secret details of the mysterious world of pro athletics.

More likely, it's a bigger distraction for many players to be home, especially in the playoffs. Then they have to deal with family and friends' ticket requests and when they go home the kids are probably there waiting to play with daddy. Many daddies know they get more sleep and better meals on the road. Plus, it's less likely teams will have much bonding experience or chances to talk as much basketball at home given less time spent together and likely more family responsibilities.

Many around the NBA today see the lack of the same killer instinct on the road as a growing sign of mental weakness among NBA players in this era. The thinking is more players have so much more in terms of money and comforts like their charter planes and ultimate accommodations that they have grown somewhat soft.

Of course, there are exceptions like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. But gone, say many, seems to be the team notion you'd see from the great teams of previous eras which relished the "us-against-the-world" mentality of going into an opposing arena and silencing the home crowd. When the Chicago Bulls won their first three championships from 1991 to 1993, they won more games in the Finals on the road than at home.

The belief among some is that today's players have come into the NBA so pampered in recruitment from high-school or AAU teams that they need the home crowd and support to push them. Also, many never played on the road in the big college atmospheres because they went directly to the NBA from high school or just spent a year in college. They haven't developed the toughness of dealing with hostile crowds.

While it's not unusual that home teams tend to dominate — a larger home/away margin has been more common in the NBA than in other sports — it's more the disparity in these playoffs.

Many fans, especially those favoring the road teams, see the hosting teams getting more foul calls and feel the referees are influenced by the home crowd. That's not necessarily true.

The NBA is principally a game of energy, more so than in other team sports. Playing at home with a supportive crowd tends to produce more bursts of energy, and the team that is the aggressor generally gets the foul calls. Most teams ride the energy of the crowd into more aggressive play. The resulting effect also is to put key players into foul trouble with Carlos Boozer having foul trouble in Los Angeles and Derek Fisher in Salt Lake City in the Jazz-Lakers series.

It's a domino effect as teams then have to use bench players more. Those generally are players not accustomed to playing a key role, and reserves with less playing time also tend to play more comfortably at home in front of a friendly crowd and tentative on the road with more pressure and a hostile environment.

On the road, that extra mental toughness is required to play through the foul calls a team believes it may not be getting.

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Also, some coaches will try to play differently on the road and it could impact the nature of the team. Some coaches, like you'll see with Cleveland, will slow the game down even more. The notion is you keep the crowd out of the game as much as possible by preventing fast breaks and runouts by getting back more quickly, keep the game close and perhaps steal the game at the end. But that sometimes can backfire, as it might take a team out of its normal offense or demonstrate a subtle lack of confidence in his own team which might affect his confidence.

It's also why teams talk so much about the importance of veterans in the playoffs. Usually veteran players will be less distracted by many of the factors which contribute to home-court superiority.

It's perhaps why the Pistons, a veteran team that has been together for several years, were the only one to win a road game in the second round until the Lakers closed out the Jazz in Game 6. This Celtics group, despite a league best in wins and loaded with veterans, never has played in the playoffs together. The Cavs, despite being in the Finals last season, were remade in midseason. Many among the Hornets are experiencing their first playoffs. And the Jazz is young as well with point guard Deron Williams.

The aberration seems to be the Spurs, a veteran team that's won together. Yes, several of their role players are aging. But it doesn’t seem to explain their inability to even play close games in New Orleans. It could be we are experiencing a changing of the guard in the West with the young Hornets.

Or just that the overall talent level is not as good as it once was. Of course, some could argue it's better with fewer poor teams, so it's more difficult to beat another top team on their home court, that the parity is positive.

In any case, it's producing several long series with key, pivotal games. And what's wrong with that?

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