The Boston Celtics are currently in the midst of the NBA playoffs, and the team is using lessons learned from last year’s title run to power through the competition. Jayson Tatum, one of the Celtics’ star players, spoke about the importance of effectively communicating with referees during games – something of an art form in the playoffs (Celtics Wire).
Former Celtics coach Ime Udoka has agreed to a contract with the Houston Rockets to become the team’s next head coach, according to ESPN (Bleacher Report). Meanwhile, the Celtics themselves are hoping to eliminate the Atlanta Hawks in their first-round series as they head back to Boston for Game 5 on Tuesday (Sportsnaut).
However, the Celtics will have to play without guard Marcus Smart, who registered an impressive 24 points, eight assists, and three steals in the team’s Game 3 loss to the Hawks. Smart’s availability for Game 4 is uncertain (Sports Illustrated). In addition, the Hawks will be without their own player, Dejounte Murray, who was suspended for Game 5 after bumping into an official during Atlanta’s playoff loss (Yahoo Sports).
Despite these challenges, the Boston Celtics have some margin for error as they head into Game 5 against the Hawks, but they shouldn’t need it if they want to take care of business and avoid a replay of last year’s near miss (The Boston Globe).
Outside of the playoffs, we take a look back at the Celtics’ past accomplishments. On April 24, 1945, they won their fifth straight NBA championship, and that same day, Albert B. “Happy” Chandler was elected baseball commissioner by a unanimous vote of the major league (Cumberland Times-News).
As the playoffs continue, fans of the Boston Celtics will be eagerly watching to see how their team fares against the competition.
