And where have they been hiding THAT for the last six road games?!?

The word "security blanket" had been used several times by various media pundits prior to the start of the Eastern Conference Finals, in reference to Boston's ability - however remote - to secure the NBA title without having to win a single contest away from the friendly confines of the TD Banknorth Garden; in other words, since the C's technically didn't have to win a road game, why should they get all worked up about their "little" six-game skid?

Well, once the Pistons yanked that security blanket away on Thursday, like Linus having his little blue comfort object torn asunder by Snoopy (celticsbeagle.net), the C's were effectively out of excuses ... It was either win at the Palace of Auburn Hills or go home.

Well, looks like that was exactly the motivation they needed to finally break out of their "on the road" doldrums, as Boston jumped out to an 11-0 lead to start the game and never really looked back, taking a momentum-shifting 2-1 series advantage with a 94-80 victory (sports.yahoo.com).

Who knows? Had the Celts taken care of business in Game Two - like they were expected to - and gone into last night's contest up two to nothing, perhaps they would not have had the intensity and focus necessary to drown out Detroit's fans right from the start, and might have found themselves losing their seventh straight road game ... After that, the pressure to keep the series from being tied up on Monday - by going "par for the course" in Game Four and losing yet another road game - would have been even greater on the team, and they very well may have fallen once again, so that (instead of now possibly tackling Game Five with the mentality of closing out the series), they would have been staring down another must-win home game at the Garden.

Yes yes, causality (en.wikipedia.org) can be a tricky thing; in effect, losing their first home game the other day could have been the best thing to happen to this ballclub ...

In any event , we can all stop talking about this "futility away from home" nonsense now, reaffirmed in the knowledge that the Celtics are, in fact, a good road team (imagine that, a team that went 31-10 on the road during the regular season actually being described as "good") ... Not only did Boston hold a double-digit lead throughout almost the entire game, but it was their ability to rebound in the face of adversity that really boosted my confidence levels:

First, both Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett picked up two early fouls in the first quarter (Kevin's second coming off a particuarly putrid call by the referee wherein Rip Hamilton was actually grabbing his arm but was still able to draw an offensive foul call, bleh) ... While the Pistons used this opportunity to - briefly - take the lead, the Celtics' bench bounced back from a subpar Game Two performance (including the previously non-existent entity known as Sam Cassell hitting a couple of shots) to put the road team decisively back in control.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the comeback mounted by Detroit in the fourth quarter ... Now, while I hate using it as an excuse, I'm really going to have to call out the officiating again; while the C's weren't doing themselves any favors with some sloppy play (Rondo's attempt at a full-court bounce pass at one point was particularly egregious), the refs were just not going to call anything in Boston's favor. It was almost getting to the point where it was laughable, the disparity between the ticky-tack calls being called on the Celts, versus the slapping and mugging that the Pistons were allowed to get away with (I can laugh now that the C's won, rather than punching a hole through my television set in frustration).

My qualms with the zebras aside, all that matters is that the Celts were finally able to overcome a huge pyschological barrier that had been plaguing them since their first-round matchup versus the Hawks ... Winning a road game in the playoffs is possible, guys, so just remember that come Monday night.