Home cooked, Part Deux

 So remember the other day, when the Blob wrote "Well, this is interesting" to describe three visiting teams beating three higher-seeded home teams in three NBA conference semifinal openers?

"No," you're saying.

Oh, come on. Work with me here.

Work with me, because I'm about write the same thing again, only amending it because the "this" is now really interesting. Because didja see what happened in Cleveland two nights again, and in Boston last night?

Two nights ago the visiting Indiana Pacers were trailing the  Eastern Conference 1-seed Cavaliers by seven points with 47.9 seconds to go. They scored the last eight points of the game to steal Game 2 on Tyrese Halliburton's 3-pointer with 1.1 ticks showing, and now they lead the Cavs 2-0 heading home to Indianapolis.

And last night?

Last night they Knicks outscored the 2-seed Celtics 30-17 in the fourth quarter to lift Boston's wallet, 91-90, and now they head home to New York with a 2-0 lead.

In both games, the  visitors trailed by 20 points in the second half. In both games, the favored home teams yakked all over themselves, especially from the place so many NBA teams live and die these days: The 3-point line.

In Cleveland, the Cavs jacked up 39 tries from the arc and clanked 28 of them. In  Boston, the free-firing Celts hoisted 40 and made, um, 10. In two games now, they've shot it 100 times from Threeville and bottomed just 25.

"That's only 25 percent!" you just gasped.

See, you do know your math.

Another thing you know, or actually we all do: If you shoot threes like a blindfolded toddler, you're probably going on the road down 2-0 in a series you're supposed to win.

The Cavs, remember, had the second-best record in the league in the regular season, 64-18. The Pacers finished 14 games back at 50-32.

And the Celtics?

The defending NBA champs had the third-best record in the league, 61-21. That was 10 games clear of the Knicks (51-31).

All of this is so much Monopoly money, of course. That will happen when you trade surgical precision for bricklaying, and get cooked at home in the fourth quarter by 13 points (the Celtics) and 15 points (the Cavs).

Onward. Again.