Though he’ll be trying his best to beat them in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Tom Thibodeau still has fond memories of his time with the Celtics.
The New York Knicks head coach spent three highly successful seasons in Boston as an assistant under Doc Rivers. Thibodeau raved about that experience before Game 1 of the teams’ second-round playoff showdown at TD Garden.
“It’s just unbelievable,” he said Monday in his pregame news conference. “I think from top to bottom, the history of the franchise, the people that were involved, from ownership to management to all the players, it’s a special place. I’ve been obviously very blessed and fortunate. I grew up in Connecticut and grew up a Knick fan, then went to college in Boston, Salem State, and became a Celtics fan. And then I got the good fortune working for both franchises.
“But obviously, when you win a championship, and once you get here, you realize it’s all the people that are here, and what it represents. The first time you walk into the practice facility and you’re looking up at all the banners from each decade, it’s very unique. It’s special.”
The Celtics won a championship in Thibodeau’s first season with the organization (2007-08), then returned to the NBA Finals two years later, after which left to become head coach of the Chicago Bulls. The 67-year-old now is in his fifth season in charge of the Knicks, trying to bring New York its first NBA title since 1973.
Thibodeau went on to shout out Celtics owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, former president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, Rivers, longtime media relations VP Jeff Twiss and “all the great players, staff and the people that work in the building” — before closing with a zinger aimed at a certain Boston bench player-turned-NBC Sports Boston analyst Brian Scalabrine.
“The only hole in the franchise is (Brian) Scalabrine,” he cracked.
The Celtics and Knicks both entered the series with zero players listed on their respective injury reports. That was a first for the clubs this season, as one or both teams were missing at least one rotation player in all four of their regular-season matchups.
Boston played the final three games of its opening-round series against Orlando without Jrue Holiday, but the veteran guard was removed from the injury report on Sunday, as was teammate Jaylen Brown. Holiday is one of the league’s top perimeter defenders and is an important part of the Celtics’ plan to limit Jalen Brunson, the Knicks’ All-Star point guard and leading scorer.
“I think defensively, they’re terrific,” Thibodeau said of Holiday and backcourt partner Derrick White. “The length, the ability to challenge shots, guard multiple positions. They play very well off each other, and then it’s what they turn their defense into. So we have to be aware of them. We have to take care of the ball. Both are great kick-ahead guys. If you turn it over, they’re going to make you pay.”
Holiday also hurt the Knicks on the offensive end during the regular season. In three appearances against New York, the 34-year-old averaged 16.0 points per game with an 82.2% true shooting percentage.
Like Thibodeau, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is a New England native (Johnston, R.I.), and unlike his Knicks counterpart, he did grow up a Celtics fan.
The Knicks and Celtics are two of the NBA’s oldest rivals — they’ve been squaring off since the league’s inception in 1946 — but Mazzulla said he didn’t have any specific memories of watching the two teams play as a kid.
“No, not really,” he said. “I have an understanding of that, obviously, but at the same time, we’re playing them, and what comes with that is execution, physicality, attention to detail and all the things that give you a chance to win.”
That quick pivot back to the present was on-brand for the Celtics bench boss, who prefers not to discuss anything outside of the upcoming game during his pregame pressers. But there also simply weren’t many big-stage matchups between the two storied franchises during Mazzulla’s childhood.
The Celtics and Knicks met in the 1990 playoffs when he was 1 year old, then didn’t do so again until 2011, when he was finishing up his redshirt senior year at West Virginia. This series is the teams’ first postseason matchup since 2013.
The NBA announced the start times and broadcast information for six of the possible seven Celtics-Knicks matchups. The full slate:
Game 2: Wednesday, 7 p.m., TNT
Game 3: Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Game 4: Monday, May 12, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Game 5: Wednesday, May 14, TBD, TNT
Game 6: Friday, May 16, 8 p.m., ESPN
Game 7: Monday, May 19, 8 p.m., TNT
As the higher seed, Boston would host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7, if necessary. Games 3, 4 and 6 would be at Madison Square Garden.
Each fan in attendance Monday night received a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words “We gotta stay in the fight” — a reference to Brown’s comments during Boston’s opening-round series about matching opponents’ physicality. … Thibodeau had high praise for Celtics veteran Al Horford, who continues to play at a high level in his 18th NBA season. “He’s a special guy, because everywhere he’s gone, people say the exact same thing about him,” Thibodeau said. “I had the good fortune of coaching Joakim Noah in Chicago, and he talked about (ex-Florida teammate Horford) all the time, the type of teammate that he is and all those things. His career, he’s embraced everything that’s come his way. When he was an All-Star, he was great then. He’s still great now. He fits with everybody.” Horford is vying to become just the fourth player ever to win back-to-back championships at the NCAA and NBA levels.