Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Hawks double-booked their arena with Janet Jackson because even they didn’t think they’d beat the Celtics twice.
Not many people expected the No. 7 seed Atlanta Hawks to win two games off the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, and that apparently includes the Hawks themselves. Atlanta booked its home arena for a Janet Jackson concert scheduled for Thursday, April 27 way before the playoff bracket was ever announced.
Only one problem: after their stunning Game 5 win on Tuesday, the Hawks now host Game 6 at Thursday, which means Ms. Jackson (if you’re nasty) has been bumped to playing on Friday night.
The Hawks won a thriller in Game 5 thanks to Trae Young’s ice-cold game-winner on a deep stepback three-pointer. If Atlanta can win Game 6 at home, things are about to get really scary for the defending Eastern Conference champs.
Young apologized to Janet Jackson on Twitter Wednesday morning … sort of.
Fortunately, the arena is open for Jackson to have her concert on Friday. There’s only one potential issue: there’s also a Taylor Swift concert in Atlanta that day to be held at the home of the Atlanta Falcons.
How many fans had tickets to both Jackson and Swift? That would be a very hard choice to make.
And now for some concert chaos in Atlanta: Janet Jackson had a concert scheduled for Thursday at State Farm Arena. As of 2 minutes ago, the Hawks have a Game 6 there Thursday.
Just move it to the weekend? Sure … but Taylor Swift has shows Friday-Sunday at the Benz 1/2 pic.twitter.com/84PLTbw60u
— Justin Felder (@Justin_FOX5) April 26, 2023
Who knows, maybe fans in Atlanta will be able to celebrate a Hawks Game 6 win on Thursday and then carry the good vibes into Jackson’s concert on Friday. Like Young tweeted, it sure would be cool if Janet was in the arena for Game 6.
We still can’t get over how sick Young’s game-winner was from Tuesday night. Let’s watch it again from every angle.
The Celtics still have to feel confidence in this series. But if they lose Game 6, Boston fans will be asking What Have You Done for Me Lately.
