“Sorry Ms. Jackson,” representatives of State Farm Arena in Atlanta expressed Wednesday morning, probably, after the city’s beloved Hawks earned a stunning comeback win over the Boston Celtics in the NBA playoffs.
Trae Young’s late-game takeover and a string of Celtics boneheaded plays ultimately propelled Atlanta to a 119-117 victory in Game 5 at TD Garden on Tuesday. The best-of-seven now shifts back to Atlanta for an unexpected Game 6 scheduled for Thursday night.
Perhaps best depicting just how unexpected is the fact State Farm Arena previously booked a Janet Jackson concert for both Wednesday and Thursday nights. And while Thursday’s concert already has been moved to Friday, there might be something to be said about Atlanta’s home arena having other plans.
The seventh-seeded Hawks, who crept into the playoffs after a win in the NBA Play-In Tournament, likely weren’t expected to be competing this late into the postseason. They surely weren’t expected push the title-favored Celtics to at least six games. And they weren’t expected to do so either when the NBA playoffs started or midway through the fourth quarter.
According to ESPN’s win probability, the Celtics had a 98.4% chance of winning Game 5 when a Jaylen Brown 3-pointer put the Green up 109-96 with 6:10 remaining.
Janet Jackson might read that as: Janet Jackson had a 98.4% chance of holding her concert Thursday when Jaylen Brown put the Green up 13 points with 6:10 remaining.
But the Celtics lost “Control” and couldn’t finish the job “Again.” And now Janet Jackson and those at State Farm Arena will have to pay the price.
