The sound inside the TD Garden is explosive. When the fans are really going, it's difficult to think.

And it's easy to understand why home teams win most NBA games.

There was a moment of Game 3 when the place was just about to explode. Paul Pierce found himself all alone with a clear path to the hoop. In the middle of a tense fourth quarter, the Celtics needed just one little bucket to complete the project they had been working on since the first period: To finally tie the game up. But Pierce never got the ball.

Boston was down 72-70 when this happened:

It's unclear why Ron Artest got so stuck on Ray Allen's pick -- after the game he said he could remember the play, but now why he let Pierce get so open. Stop the play about nine seconds in. Pierce needs that ball, and Rajon Rondo completes far tougher passes every night. Listen to the crowd, begging for the pass to be completed! With a bucket there, the whole place would have erupted.

Instead of 18,624 people screaming, there was one guy clapping, out of resignation. (Watch Pierce, after the moment passes, smacking his hands together at the missed opportunity.)

Following Rondo's missed shot, Derek Fisher nailed a 12-footer to put the Lakers up four. The Celtics never did tie the game and the locals went home crestfallen.