The Boston Celtics are one of the most storied franchises in the history of the NBA. They have won 17 championships, tied for the most by any franchise in the league. But there is one aspect of their home-court advantage that stands out above all else: air conditioning.
The Boston Garden was notorious for not having air conditioning in its building. Even though the Celtics players didn’t have it either, the heat didn’t seem to bother them as much as their opponents.
Thus, this heated arena was used in the Celtics’ favor. In a sense, opposing players would come into Boston Garden intimidated, which gave the Celtics an advantage. The story of how they came to use this tactic is a fascinating one that involves some of the biggest names in the history of the sport.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the infamous Boston Celtics home-court advantage, the story behind it, and how it has helped them become one of the most successful teams in NBA history.
The Old Boston Garden
The Celtics’ old home arena, the Boston Garden, was a unique building, to say the least. It opened on November 17, 1928, and it was supposed to be Boston’s Madison Square Garden.
The Boston Garden was unique because it was built on top of North Station, which is a train station that was originally the hub for the Boston and Maine Railroad. There’s nothing like playing a game of basketball while trains pass underneath the arena.
The Boston Garden was also a notoriously hard arena to win in for opposing teams. On top of no air conditioning, it’s been said that the staff in the Garden would turn up the heat in their opponents’ locker rooms in an attempt to wear down their opponents.
But the Celtics didn’t stop there. They also would turn off the hot water in their opponents’ locker rooms, thus forcing the other team to take cold showers.
In fact, this tactic wasn’t reserved just for the old Boston Garden. As recently as 2017, Dwyane Wade, who was a member of the Chicago Bulls at that time, claimed the hot water was turned off in Boston’s TD Garden, the arena that replaced the Garden in 1995.
Wade just informed teammates there's no hot water for showers in visiting locker room.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 27, 2017
These tactics truly certainly seemed to work, especially in the 1985-86 season. Boston compiled an incredible 40-1 record at home, including 37-1 in the Boston Garden. The Celtics ended up playing three games at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and they won all three.
The team’s home-court advantage became the stuff of legend, and visiting teams knew that they were in for a tough battle whenever they came to Boston. In fact, many opposing players didn’t want to play in Boston because of the heat.
When you look at the typical basketball arena, most, if not all, keep the temperature between 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit and a humidity level of 50-60%. These are the optimal playing conditions for basketball.
The temperature and humidity levels of a basketball court can have a significant impact on the performance of players. Just look at the 2014 NBA Finals, when the Miami Heat played the San Antonio Spurs.
In the middle of Game 1, the air conditioning at the Spurs’ AT&T Center gave out. This led to severe cramping for Heat star LeBron James. With 3:59 left in the fourth quarter, LeBron left the game for good, as he could not play with cramps.
The Spurs capitalized on the absence of LeBron and went on a 16-3 run to win Game 1, 110–95. The arena hit 90 degrees, and not everyone believed the air conditioning went out by accident.
It was never proven that the Spurs turned off the air conditioning, just as it’s never been proven that the Celtics cranked up the heat in opposing locker rooms. Although, it sure seemed like they did.
Legendary Celtics coach and team executive Red Auerbach was accused of being the mastermind behind turning the heat up in the opposing locker room, as well as shutting off the hot water.
“You’re disillusioned by what you read by some a–hole writer,” Auerbach said about the claims against him. “This is the truth — I had absolutely no control of that Garden over anything. They treated us like s—. If they had cold water, don’t you think we had cold water?
“The Lakers used to complain how hot it was at the Garden, that it wasn’t air-conditioned. I said to them, ‘Hey, I don’t blame you for complaining because the half-a-court we play on is air-conditioned.’ I mean, how f—ing stupid can you be? It was the same for us.”
There’s been another theory about the old Boston Garden using tactics to get a step up on their opponents. The floor in the Boston Garden was parquet, and supposedly it had a bunch of dead spots, which the Celtics knew to avoid while their opponents did not.
“The whole thing was a myth,” Auerbach said about this rumor. “People thought not only that there were dead spots but that we knew where everyone was and we could play accordingly. Now, did you ever watch a ballplayer go up and down the court at that speed and pick out a dead spot?” Auerbach asked. “If our players worried about that, thinking that’s going to help them win, they’re out of their cotton-picking mind. But if the other team thought that: Hey, good for us.”
The old Boston Garden may have been the toughest arena for an opposing player to play in. Despite all the air conditioning and water problems, the fans who packed the arena in Boston have also been deemed as ruthless.
The great Wilt Chamberlain once spoke about what it was like playing in the Boston Garden, saying it was like “going to one of the old Roman amphitheaters where they threw the Christians to the lions.” Yes, playing in Boston, especially in the old Boston Garden, wasn’t for the weak.
Chamberlain certainly had many battles against the great Bill Russell, and they usually didn’t go Chamberlain’s way. Russell won the most titles by a player with 11, and you know the Boston Garden helped Russell and his team pull out those victories.
Even though Russell and his Celtics dominated the league in Boston, the most famous game played in the Boston Garden occurred in 1984. It was Game 5 of the 1984 NBA Finals and this game is simply known as the “heat game.”
The temperature in Boston that day was extremely hot, and since the Boston Garden had no air conditioning in the building, things got hot and sticky inside the area. The exact temperature inside the Garden at tip-off was 97 degrees.
This, of course, is an intense environment for any professional athlete to perform in, and it certainly took its toll on the players.
The Lakers players looked visibly out of it from the heat. This includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar using an oxygen mask at one point in the game.
“I suggest,” Abdul-Jabbar said after the game, “that you go to a local steam bath, do 100 pushups with all your clothes on, then try to run back and forth for 48 minutes. The game was in slow motion. It was like we were running in mud.”
The Celtics players were extremely hot as well, as Robert Parish was seen dumping water on his neck. Still, they weren’t affected the same as the Lakers players. This was most likely due to the fact the Celtics’ players were used to playing in a building without air conditioning, while the Lakers’ players were not.
Larry Bird had an interesting statement when asked about playing in the intense heat.
“I love to play in the heat. I just run faster and create my own wind,” Bird said.
The players weren’t the only ones feeling the heat, as referee Hugh Evans only worked in the first half, as he suffered from dehydration by halftime. Referee John Vanak replaced him in the second half.
The Celtics ended up winning 121-103 over the Lakers to take a 3-2 series lead. Boston ended up winning the series 4–3 and the championship. This would be the only series in which Boston defeated LA in the Finals in the 80s.
So, now you see how having home-court advantage meant something different in the old Boston Garden. The Celtics used their ancient arena to their advantage, and along with their rowdy fans, the Boston Garden became one of the toughest places to win for an opponent.
Maybe this is the reason why the Celtics have won 17 championships. As you probably know, 16 of those 17 titles came at the Boston Garden, and you know there were many hot games played.
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