Trying to win on the road can be a headache for most teams. Trying to win a deciding playoff game on the road, though, is worth a call to the doctor -- Dr. Jack Ramsay. The Hall of Fame coach offers his Prescription for the Pacers and the Raptors, who both need road victories to advance in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

	Dr. Jack says the Pacers can try to double-team Jason Kidd in the backcourt.

The psychological aspect
It's assumed that home teams will win decisive playoff games simply because of where they are played. In most cases, it's true. But every so often, the visiting team wins because it came into that game with an unshakeable confidence, a ton of grit and cold-blooded poise in the face of an ear-numbing level of hometown vocal support

The first challenge for the visitors is to take the crowd out of the game by starting strong and establishing an early lead. Then, they must turn back the inevitable surges of the home team. Down the stretch, they must execute their game plan at both ends of the floor, control rebounds and make clutch free throws.

It sounds easy. It is not.

I'm reminded of a first-round Game 3 (best-of-three in those days) that my Buffalo Braves (now the L.A. Clippers) played in Philadelphia in 1976. Each team had won on the opponent's floor and this game went down to the wire. The Braves trailed by two points, but had the ball in the closing seconds. I set up a play for Bob McAdoo to get the ball just inside the top of the foul circle. Mac drove the ball from there, pulled up and was fouled on a six-foot jumper with one second left to play.

As McAdoo got ready to shoot the free throws, Philly fans sitting on the baseline pulled on the wires that supported the backboard so that the basket was moving side to side. Mac pointed out the moving hoop to referee Jake O'Donnell, who took the ball, shouted to the fans to stop their action, then returned the ball to Big Mac telling him to shoot. The crowd noise was deafening and, although the fans had stopped tugging on the wires, the basket was still swaying slightly. Against that backdrop, Bob McAdoo calmly swished both free throws to force the game into overtime, where we won. That's a pressure performance, folks!

Prescription: Toronto
The Raptors are on a roll. They won two inspirational games at home to even a series most experts thought would be over by now. Now, as they go into Game 5, the Raptors need to feed off those recent successes and draw on the confidence that remains from their incredible finish of the regular season.

After getting blown away 85-63 in Game 1, Toronto battled back to play the Pistons tough -- losing a hard-fought battle in Game 2 -- before its must-win victories at home. In Games 3 and 4, the Raptors led at the end of each period. So they know they can beat the Pistons. They just have to do it one more time ... and in Detroit.

The tactical game: To win this decisive game, the Raptors must keep Jerry Stackhouse and Ben Wallace under control like they did in the games played in Toronto. In those two games, the Stacker was a combined 8-for-28 (28 percent) from the field and 1-for-7 from 3-point land. He attempted only nine free throws; while averaging 13 points. In the Pistons' two wins, Stackhouse averaged 25.5 points, shooting 13-for-35 (37 percent) from the field, 4-for-8 from behind the arc and 21-for-22 from the line. While Jerry has never been a great percentage shooter from the field, he's a prolific scorer because he gets fouled frequently on his drives to the hoop. It's important that the Raptors keep him off the free throw line. To do that, his defenders -- Alvin Williams, Mo Peterson and Jerome Williams -- will all have a crack at the job. They should force him to his left, get quick defensive help, then both defenders must stay on the floor without going for Stacker's pump fakes.

Wallace, the league's best defender, had a monster Game 1 (20 rebounds, 19 points and 3 blocks) and had 15 more rebounds in Game 2. In the two games in Toronto, Wallace averaged 4.5 points (3-for-12 from the field) and 11.5 rebounds and blocked two shots. That's a huge difference. Raptors defenders -- Tony Davis, Keon Clark and Hakeem Olajuwon -- must keep a body on Wallace to keep him from getting rebound position. That's easier said than done, but vital if the Raptors hope to stay alive in the playoffs.

On offense, the Raptors need everyone's best game, beginning with Davis and Clark at the post; drives to the hoop from Mo Pete and Alvin Williams; a mix of perimeter shooting from both of them and Dell Curry; error-free point guard play from Chris Childs; and all the energy that Jerome Williams can generate.

Prescription: Indiana
The Pacers already won a playoff game at New Jersey, so they have that in their favor. And, like the Raptors, the Pacers gained confidence by winning "must" games down the stretch of the regular season just to make the playoffs. They also have Reggie Miller, one of the game's all-time great pressure shooters, ready and willing at crunch time.

The tactical game: The key for the Pacers is to contain Jason Kidd, the metronome of the Nets' offensive attack. In their blowout victory in Game 4, the Pacers held Kidd to 4-for-15 shooting, one rebound, and six assists against three turnovers. In the two Nets' wins, Jason averaged 22 points (on a combined 16-for-34 shooting), 10 assists and eight rebounds. If Kidd doesn't push the ball up the floor, the Nets don't win. Again, though, easier said than done. One tactic the Pacers might use is to jam Kidd with a second defender when he first gets the ball in the backcourt, forcing him to give up the ball before the fastbreak materializes. Miller, Jamaal Tinsley, Kevin Ollie and Ron Mercer will all have their chance to keep Kidd and the Nets' running game under control.

On offense, the Pacers need Jermaine O'Neal to step up and be counted. O'Neal had a huge Game 1 (30 points on 13-for-24 shooting, 11 rebounds and two blocks). In the other three games, Jermaine shot a combined 13-for-36, averaged fewer than 14 points and less than six rebounds. O'Neal is quicker than Todd McCulloch, more experienced and skilled than rookie Jason Collins, and has a size advantage over Kenyon Martin and Aaron Williams. He should dominate inside.

The Pacers also need to establish an even tempo of their own -- taking opportunity fastbreaks, keeping turnovers to a minimum and setting up an effective balance between an inside game with O'Neal and a penetrating perimeter game led by point guards Tinsley and Ollie. This tactic will not only get them to the basket, but will generate open shots for Miller, Ron Artest, Jonathan Bender and Austin Croshere, who finally got productive minutes in Game 4.

Finally, the Pacers need to at least hold their own on the boards. That responsibility falls mostly on the shoulders of O'Neal, Brad Miller and Jeff Foster.

In summary
There is no secret formula for road teams when it comes to winning a decisive playoff game. But when it happens, it's almost always because that team has had an edge in hustle plays: recovering loose balls on the floor, making great, extra-effort stops on defense, or winning battles for offensive put-back scores.

Then the clutch shooters step up and knock down big shots!

The stage is set. Let's see what happens.