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Teams have stuggled away from home

Only 1 of the 4 teams remaining in the playoffs have a winning road record

Detroit Pistons v Boston Celtics, Game TwoGetty Images
All four teams have lost at least one playoff game by 19 points during these playoffs. Detroit has lost by 20-plus points twice so far.

What is behind the utter lack of a road warrior mentality behind NBA playoff teams this spring? Should teams consider abandoning those plush Four Seasons suites in favor of a confidence-boosting Holiday Inn Express stay? And can any of those three "Strangers" jack the three with any measure of consistency?

It almost seems as if players, well aware that they are involved in a postseason that could potentially extend them 28 games — more than one-third the regular season — take games off. At least they do emotionally. Notice that when the Spurs (Game 7 at New Orleans) and the Lakers (Game 6 at Utah) really needed a must-win road game, they got it.

Other times, though, they seem to play as if not wanting to expend too much energy over a lost cause. Who is to say whether the Suns might have won Game 3 in Phoenix if they had not been so emotionally depleted by Games 1 and 2 in San Antonio?

The games may be snoregasms, then, but do not worry. If Los Angeles and San Antonio each win at home to force a Game 7, odds are that that game will be close when The Closer appears at the bottom of your screen.

As for Speedman and Tyler, I would not fret too much for them, either. They may be on the short end of a three-on-two break, but the chaste white couple in love never dies in a horror flick. Unless one of those hooded intruders is Robert Horry, my bet is that they survive.

More from John Walters

© 2012 NBC Sports.  Reprints


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