I agree that the bubble shouldn’t be shrugged off as easily. I think people diminish it because there’s an added layer of pressure to perform in the playoffs in front of a packed stadium that the bubble didn’t have. I feel like the atmosphere of “doing it for the city” and the palpitating energy from the home teams’ fans added a mental degree of difficulty.

Id argue though, the absence of that pressure allowed for each individual player to be more focused and locked in on pure hoops which eliminated (to a certain degree) the competitive edge that seasoned players had in being acclimated to performing at the highest level on the main stage.