After the Boston Celtics advanced to the second round of the playoffs by beating the Atlanta Hawks Thursday night, Jayson Tatum took a minute to offer Janet Jackson an apology.
While the Milwaukee Bucks’ early postseason exit was an abject failure, Atlanta’s first round knockout can be deemed a success. No one really expected the Hawks to give Boston a series. Not even their home arena in Atlanta, which booked Janet Jackson’s “Together Again” concert tour for the night of what would have been Game 6. Atlanta beating the Celtics in Boston Tuesday night meant Thursday night’s concert had to be bumped to Friday.
“I wanna send an apology to the legend Janet Jackson… we were supposed to close it out in Boston. She had to postpone her show. I hope she sees this, you know, I apologize for that. But we got it done today.” – Jayson Tatum to Stephanie Ready
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 28, 2023
“I wanna send an apology to the legend Janet Jackson,” Tatum graciously told TNT sideline reporter Stephanie Ready after the win. “We were supposed to close it out in Boston. She had to postpone her show. I hope she sees this, you know, I apologize for that, but we got it done today.”
And Tatum did get it done, with 30 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks in Boston’s 128-120 Game 6 win to close out the series. After all the effort it took to move the concert from Thursday night to Friday, the Hawks went out and lost Game 6 anyway, when they could have just been knocked out Tuesday and avoided logistical chaos for Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.
Hopefully the one-night delay didn’t disrupt too many of the concertgoers’ plans. For most people, a Friday night concert is probably easier on the work schedule than a Thursday anyway.
