Boston Celtics

Welcome to the Garden …

By Gary Dzen

1 minute to read

Welcome to the Garden, where the Boston Celtics will take on the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series at 8:30 p.m. The series is tied 2-2.

Not many people expected the Celtics to be coming back to Boston tonight for anything other than a clinching game. But no matter what happens tonight, the Celtics will be making another trip to Atlanta for Game 6. They certainly hope not to be facing elimination when they get there.

Celtics guard Ray Allen is currently warming up on the parquet. Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis is warming on the other end. Allen typically puts up about 150 shots before every game. He’s not just standing in place shooting jumpers, either. Allen is starting at midcourt and catching the ball on the run before pulling up from the three-point line.

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Not too many fans outside the Garden yet, though it’s very early for the 8:30 p.m. tip-off.

  • It was a strange feeling walking over to the Garden from Beacon Hill this afternoon. A huge “Celtics in the playoffs” banner hangs on the front of the State House, and there are “Celtics Playoffs 2008” banners on just about every lamppost along the way. Last week it didn’t seem like there was any possible way these banners wouldn’t be hanging for at least a month.

    The Celtics can take a big step to keeping those banners up with a win tonight.

    We’ll covering every angle of the Game 5 scene from the Garden tonight. Back in a bit.

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