Nets - Raptors Game Four: Who The Hell Knows

All Of These Things

With five minutes left in tonight's Game Four between the Raptors and the Nets, the home team held a one point lead after a couple of Kevin Garnett free throws. So it was simply a matter of who would be the better team in clutch time; the road Raptors, who had frittered away a 17-point lead, or the hometown Nets, who have all of the playoff experience in the world.

Your money would have to be on the Nets.

And you would have lost your money.

Brooklyn couldn't put the ball in the ocean half of the time. The other half, they were turning it over or getting charge whistles. On the other end, Greivis Vasquez and Kyle Lowry made shots, then free throws, and all of sudden, we're got another series that looks like it's going the distance, with the Raps holding home court in front of a nation that's just plain marking out for them. (The Raps attracted thousand and thousands to Maple Leaf Gardens tonight to watch the game on the monitors.) The Brooklyn crowd tuned out entirely on their team tonight, almost as if they were watching a team of aging mercenaries who were failing to deliver on their promise against a younger and more entertaining team. You can do a lot of things in front of a New York City hoop crowd, but fool them, not so much.

So what could have easily been a simple first round narrative -- crafty old team works its ugly defensive magic against just happy to be here noobs -- has now gone to another level of Who The Hell Knows, where home court advantage means squat, and each game fails to build a narrative.

I still think the Nets win, but I think it a lot less than I did, well, five minutes ago...