No home court advantage, no fans basically, no familiair surroundings, no travel, no distractions etc. I feel has really made these play-offs the most unpredictable ever. It's nothing like a team up 2-0 going into a hostile environment where a team feels confident they can take 2. When a team is tied, there's equal pressure and for the lower seed not an extra boost from the home crowd to take that home court advantage back. There is none. I'd say it might be the most honest as well, referees are not influenced by crowds so no real advantage either way. It's really game by game, maybe the team who won last has some momentum or more confidence but judging by last night, 2 series tied up, that is not necessarily the case. It still feels a regular play-offs outside of the court looking different and no crowds, but I feel that will change once game we get to probably game 4 and we will hear players talking about the lack of a real advantage. If we get some upsets, sweeps, then I think we definitely hear about how unpredictable it is. Hopefully media won't go overboard, say it's boring, asterisks title in case Bucks and or Clippers get eliminated for example. I hope we will get some serious upsets and teams in the conference finals nobody expected. Maybe it's too early to tell, but I really don't see how game 3 is this pivotal for lower seeds this time nor do I see going up 2-0 as necessary for the higher seeds. Anything can happen this time, each game is just a new one, played on common grounds, everyone as rested as the other team and we get the best shot of every player possible since there cannot be travel excuses etc.
I agree. I hope the media doesn’t put asterisks on this, because it almost seems more real and fair than a typical playoff. No home courts, no travel, no crowds, it’s just guys playing basketball. No excuses.
The most showy ones are suffering. Nervous ones feel calmer. The conditions changed so there’s a small shift in success factors. To be frank, this title is unique. What happens with it is not very comparable to the conditions of other titles. It’s more difficult for everyone. This is one of the best titles to win imo. It also should really highlight the role that fans have in all this, and how to use that in the future to influence change in the NBA. I really miss an arena erupting during a playoff game on a great play. It’s not the same without that. I’d stop Watching most full regular season games if this became the norm.
These playoffs have been great. The quality of basketball has been really good and teams still feel the pressure of trying to win games. The rules of the playoffs have not changed, so in essence the pressure is still there. The only difference is that fans aren't hollering making it tougher to get direction from the bench or communicate with other players. So in reality, every individual should be keyed in to what is going on and there should be no excuses for being unable to hear your teammates or coach bark instructions. It's a unique situation and I'm loving it. The only thing I am sure players are missing are their friends and family. Imagine being stuck in a bubble and not being able to go out at all. That must be mentally draining, even though physically they are able to rest.
I curious to know if a team has a better chance coming back from 0-3 deficit and win the series in this kind of environment. Anyways I like this neutral site environment. I think we will see a lot of upsets with lower seeds beating higher seeds.
too early to tell i remember couple of years back a similar rate of upsets in the first games happened only to become too predictable in later games and series
I attribute this more to the 8 seeding games than anything. Lower seeds had to play through other playoff teams for 2 weeks just to get in, which sharpened them to take on the top seeds. Look at the Blazers and how ready they look for a playoff run because of their grind just get through the play in phase. Meanwhile, the top seeds took their foot off the gas the last week of the regular season after securing their seeding. The league should consider permanently keeping the seeding games format. The last 10 games of the regular season should be playoff teams playing each other. This ensures healthy competition in the first round and greater possibility of unpredictability and upsets, which is going to draw more eyeballs to the playoffs.
On the contrary, this is the purest basketball you gonna get. Those teams that get preferential treatment - like the lakers, clippers, bucks... won’t be getting the same boost. The game is now under a microscope. Whoever is gonna play best that day is most likely to win. Unless the zebras are gonna want to do something.
I haven’t noticed a single flop, has anyone else? it’s been beautiful. Not a soccer fan but wonder if it’s similar for them.
