Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka talks with Jayson Tatum during the second quarter of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Toronto Raptors Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, in Boston.
For the first time since he was dismissed, Ime Udoka will be back to face the Celtics at TD Garden. On the Celtics’ side, they will be at full strength as they had no players listed on the injury report. Al Horford was the lone player to miss the blowout Bucks loss, but that was because it was the second game of a back-to-back.
Elsewhere, that’s positive news. Kristaps Porzingis recently missed a game due to a knee contusion, but he played in Milwaukee. Of course, he only played limited minutes as Joe Mazzulla benched his starters to start the second half because of the blowout. Jayson Tatum has also been dinged up with an ankle sprain, but that also doesn’t appear to be an issue.
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The subplot for 7 p.m. Saturday game, naturally, will be Udoka’s return to Boston. The current Celtics players still talk glowingly of their former head coach. Udoka was set to lead the C’s last season, but he was suspended for the season abruptly before the start of training camp. The Celtics chose Mazzulla to be the interim coach, then when Mazzulla was promoted to full-time head coach, Udoka was dismissed.
Since then, Udoka was chosen to be the new head coach with the Rockets. Houston has exceeded expectations this season as it’ll bring in a record hovering around .500 this season. The Rockets do play in Detroit on Friday, so they’ll be on the second game of a back-to-back for Saturday’s game.
Tatum has praised Udoka for his development even though the pair only spent one season together in Boston. Udoka resonated well with the locker room as a player’s coach. He appeared to be on his way to a long tenure with the C’s, guiding them to a 51-31 record and an NBA Finals berth in his first season as a head coach. But the Udoka era came to an unceremonious end as he’s now with a different organization. Now, he’ll be back Saturday.
