TNT analysts curious to see how lack of crowd impacts NBA playoffs
Chris Webber #ChrisWebber
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – AUGUST 14: Eric Gordon #10 of the Houston Rockets shoots over Matisse Thybulle #22 of the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half of an NBA basketball game at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 14, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Turner Sports analysts Chris Webber and Greg Anthony are new arrivals in the NBA bubble as the league begins its playoffs on Tuesday, and both are intrigued by the competitive impact, or lack thereof, in a series where there will be no home court advantage.
“A lot of times teams that earn championships were given momentum because they had games at home,” Webber said. “I’m wondering as a competitor how that plays out.
“With Houston, with the loud crowd that they have, they can hit seven 3-pointers in a row and the crowd goes crazy and you have to call a time out based on noise. I don’t know how well I can go to my traditional thoughts with players, momentum, chemistry.”
Anthony said the neutral game sites also will negate, to a degree, the importance of experience in the playoff cauldron. He noted that neutral courts are staples of the Nike, Under Armor and Adidas tournaments that attract top high school players, which he said may have helped produce some of the top-notch showings by young players in seeding games.
“It’s easier to shoot in this environment,” Anthony said. “The intensity is there, but the anxiety isn’t. You’re going to have the physicality of it and all those things, but everybody is going to be affected, officials included. There’s not going to be at the same kind of environment.”