Home not so sweet for Celtics these days

Most championship teams have one thing in common – home-court dominance. Boston Celtics fans saw firsthand just how important protecting their home court can be during their 2008 title run. Through their first 18 home games this season, the Celtics are a pedestrian 11-7 at home, including a current 3-game losing streak. The Celtics have already eclipsed their home-court record of 35-6 the past two seasons. With the Celtics in the midst of a mini-homestand (3 of 4 at home), now would be as good of a time as any for the Celtics to once again make the Garden a difficult place for opposing teams to play.Through the first three months of the 2009-2010 season, the Celtics have yet to have their full complement of players at their disposal. Injuries have depleted the Celtics’ lineup, leaving coach Doc Rivers struggling to find continuity and consistency. Despite it all, Rivers seems unfazed and confident that eventually the Green will be find both their health and their swagger at the Garden.”We haven’t established that yet (home-court dominance), but we plan on it,” Rivers said. “I’ve seen teams not do it until the playoffs, and that would be fine, I can live with that. We do want to establish this as a place that, regardless of whether teams beat us or not, it’s not an easy place to play. We want that for sure because right now, every time you lose, it tells someone that they can beat you.”With the Celtics boasting the NBA’s best road record, the Green have found themselves searching for answers, and looking for reasons as to why they have had such a difficult time at the Garden. Captain Paul Pierce thinks that the answer can be found at the defensive end of the floor.”We’ve got to understand that we’re a defensive team first, regardless of who we put on the floor at the end of the night,” Pierce said. “That’s regardless of if we shoot the ball well or not. We are a defensive team, and that’s what we have to continue to understand. That’s something that is never going to change about this team. Right now, we are playing in spurts defensively. It’s going to be tough if we don’t start to develop some consistency on that end of the court.”There is no shortage of issues for the Celtics to solve, and with the NBA season at its halfway point, the Green certainly have plenty of time to fix what ails them. However, if the Celtics truly want to consider themselves a legitimate championship contender, they will need to find both their health, as well as their swagger, at the Garden.