The Boston Celtics were expected to finish off the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5 of their first-round NBA Playoffs series on Tuesday, April 25, but the Hawks won, 119-117, and forced a Game 6 for Thursday, April 27. Free basketball is rarely a bad thing, but in this case, there was a cost.
Janet Jackson already had her Together Again Tour scheduled to stop at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on April 27, meaning State Farm Arena was suddenly double-booked for Jackson and the Hawks’ Game 6.
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
State Farm Arena announced that Jackson’s concert was rescheduled for Friday, April 28.
Everything you need to know for Janet Jackson tomorrow!
This concert has been rescheduled for Friday, April 28 due to the @ATLHawks playoff game tonight.
Doors @ 6:30 PM
Show starts promptly @ 7:45 PM
: https://t.co/PLSJ51h03c
&
: https://t.co/Evq35FdOuk pic.twitter.com/CLlpt4UBhB
— State Farm Arena (@StateFarmArena) April 27, 2023
Jayson Tatum felt bad for inconveniencing her. The Celtics later took care of the Hawks in Thursday night’s Game 6, 128-120. Tatum finished his on-court postgame interview by apologizing.
“I want to send an apology to the legend Janet Jackson,” the four-time All-Star said with a smile. “We were supposed to close it out in Boston. She had to postpone her show. I hope she sees this. I apologize for that, but we got it done today.”
“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
Jackson seems totally unbothered by the ordeal. She posted highlights from her April 26 show in Atlanta, the first of two nights, and captioned the Instagram post, “Atlanta, show 1 of 2 tonight! See you again Friday (congrats Hawks!) …swipe to see the band’s fave parts of the show. #TogetherAgainTour [basketball emoji].”
Jackson might run into another scheduling issue with the New York Knicks if a Game 5 is needed against the Miami Heat in their Eastern Conference semifinals series, which will begin this Sunday, April 30. A potential Game 5 would be at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, May 10 — Jackson’s second of two nights scheduled at MSG.