Celtics Look To Begin Home Dominance Against Bucks
BOSTON (CBS) - When the Boston Celtics host the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night, they are hoping it begins a season of dominance at the TD Garden.
"It's great to always be at home, get a chance to protect our home court and this is the start of it," Celtics captain Paul Pierce said Thursday. "Hopefully we can put on a better showing than we did in Game 1 on the road."
The Celtics look to bounce back from their 120-107 loss to the Heat in Miami on Tuesday night. Fittingly, the last time the Celtics played on their home court was also a loss to the Heat, a 98-79 blowout in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
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But despite the lopsided score in that game, the Garden crowd still hung with the hometown team. They serenaded them with "Let's Go Celtics" chants despite a fourth quarter deficit that hovered around 20, and sent them off to Game 7 in Miami with a loud and emphatic "Beat The Heat" chant.
While the home court advantage didn't work out all that well in that game, Pierce is hoping by taking care of business at home in the regular season, the Celtics will reap the benefits come playoff time.
"We also want to be a team that can get home-court advantage in the playoffs," he said. "I think it starts with protecting your home, and then fight and battle on road games. But in order to get home-court advantage in the playoffs, you have to be able to have a great home record."
Pierce On Having A Good Home Record:
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The Celtics have had a pretty solid go of things when at home since 2007, going 151-46 at the TD Garden. They went 24-9 in the lockout shortened 2011-12 season.
As for Friday nights at the Garden, the Celtics have done some of their best home cooking when kicking off their fans weekends. Since the 2007-08 season, The Celtics are 44-15 on Friday nights at home.
