Celtics notebook: C’s still hold ‘special’ place in Knicks coach’s heart

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 productive seasons in Boston as an assistant under Doc Rivers Thibodeau raved about that experience before Battle of the teams second-round playoff showdown at TD Garden It s just unbelievable he mentioned 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 privileged 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 - then returned to the NBA Finals two years later after which left to become head coach of the Chicago Bulls The -year-old now is in his fifth season in charge of the Knicks trying to bring New York its first NBA title since 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 Related Articles It s going to be a war Celtics Knicks renew long-dormant playoff rivalry Celtics Jrue Holiday cleared to return vs Knicks after three-game absence Celtics-Knicks preview How Boston New York match up in East semifinals Celtics notebook Jaylen Brown Jrue Holiday trending up after injuries Jrue Holiday injury Celtics guard working hard to return for East semis Both teams full go 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 participant 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 analysis on Sunday as was teammate Jaylen Brown Holiday is one of the league s top perimeter defenders and is an critical 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 mentioned 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 -year-old averaged points per encounter with an true shooting percentage No Mazzulla memories 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 but Mazzulla noted he didn t have any specific memories of watching the two teams play as a kid No not really he declared 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 meeting during his pregame pressers But there also entirely weren t a great number of big-stage matchups between the two storied franchises during Mazzulla s childhood The Celtics and Knicks met in the playoffs when he was year old then didn t do so again until when he was finishing up his redshirt senior year at West Virginia This series is the teams first postseason matchup since Schedule set The NBA communicated the start times and broadcast information for six of the accomplishable seven Celtics-Knicks matchups The full slate Championship Wednesday p m TNT Meeting Saturday p m ABC Encounter Monday May p m ESPN Event Wednesday May TBD TNT Event Friday May p m ESPN Contest Monday May p m TNT As the higher seed Boston would host Games and if necessary Games and would be at Madison Square Garden Off the rim 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 th NBA season He s a special guy because everywhere he s gone people say the exact same thing about him Thibodeau stated 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 contestant ever to win back-to-back championships at the NCAA and NBA levels