Now comes the real test. Tomorrow the Celtics travel to Cleveland to take on Ma LeBron and the Cavaliers in a game that could legitimize Boston's championship candidacy and vault the Celtics into an epic conference final series with the menacing Detroit Pistons.
The battle-tested Motown machine is not likely to dissolve into a puddle on Causeway Street, so it would be a good idea for the Celtics to demonstrate they are something more than hometown front-runners. This can only be done by winning a road playoff game, which still has not happened in this postseason. Boston is 7-0 at home, 0-5 on the road in the playoffs.
"I just want to keep having opportunities to win road games," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "I don't think anyone's playing very well on the road in the playoffs. We're going to get one. I don't know when. It would be great if it's Game 6, but if not, we're going to come back here."
"We can't get too high," added Pierce. "We said that all year long. We know we've got our work cut out for us as we go on the road to close this out. Enjoy tonight, but starting tomorrow we've got to look at somehow, some way closing out this series."
There has always been a fear that LeBron would take over a game and drop 50 on the Celtics' heads one of these nights. He had that look early last night, draining a pair of long-range jumpers in the first two minutes. It was the first time in the series that he came out making shots.
James scored 23 points in the first 20 minutes and the Cavaliers bolted to a 14-point lead. For a few seconds, it crossed the mind the home-court winning streak might be over. A few boos rained down from the upper deck.
That's when the Celtics went to work and took advantage of those familiar floorboards. Over the next 15 minutes, Boston outscored Cleveland, 42-16. It started with a 14-3 run at the end of the half and continued in the first 11 minutes after intermission. Cleveland committed a gang of turnovers, and a couple of treys by Rondo opened things up for Boston.
