On Sunday, the Boston Celtics secured their third playoff win against the Atlanta Hawks to go up 3-1 against Trae Young and company in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Most people assumed that the Celtics would handle business on Tuesday when the teams returned to Boston to possibly close out the series with a Celtics. Unfortunately for the team up north, the Hawks snuck away with a game 5 win backed by Young’s 38 points to make the series 3-2 and force a game 6 back in Atlanta. That’s good news, right? Well not particularly. A short time after the game, fans noticed that the Hawks’ game 6 matchup was set to take place at the same time and place as Janet Jackson’s Together Again Tour stop in Atlanta.
State Farm Arena double-booked the Hawks playoff game and a Janet Jackson concert for the same night
(via Ticketmaster) pic.twitter.com/dSuFAxYMrs
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 26, 2023
Yup, that’s right. A scheduling error by the State Farm Arena caused a double-booking of the Hawks’ next playoff game and Janet Jackson’s Together Again Tour stop. Games 5-7 in an NBA playoff series are usually marked as “if necessary” as they won’t be needed if the team accomplishes the coveted four-game sweep. So, the error could have been a result of a slight slip-up in remembering that these games could be needed. Then again, it could have also been an overly confident Hawks fan who believed that their team would sweep the second-rank Boston Celtics in four games. (As a Celtics fan, this reason would be great simply because of the “point-and-laugh” opportunity it gives me now that we’re up 3-2). Nonetheless, a slight error more times than not needs a slight correction.
State Farm Arena will host Game 6 of Hawks and Celtics on Thursday, moving Janet Jackson’s concert to Friday. Both events were previously scheduled on the same day.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) April 26, 2023
Chris Haynes, the Senior NBA Insider for TNT & Bleacher Report, reported that the Hawks-Celtics game 6 matchup would take place on Thursday, April 27 while Janet Jackson Together Again Tour stop in Atlanta will be moved to Friday, April 28. Just like that, all is well in Atlanta as the city’s week of entertainment can continue without issue. Let’s just hope the Celtics can finally bring this series to an end.