Warriors complain basket rim was placed too high at TD Garden
During the warm-up ahead of Game 3 of the NBA finals, the Warriors realized that one of the baskets was badly positioned.
Its been a tough start to the 2022 NBA finales - for the Celtics, who were determined to preserve the inertia from the Chase Center and the Warriors, keen to redeem themselves for the errors they committed when the series got underway in San Francisco. The TD Garden, notoriously a pressure cooker for visiting teams, hosted the two finalists for Game 3 but there were other concerns for some members of the Californian delegation.
On Wednesday, something unusual caught the attention of Warriors coaching staff as the players warmed up for the game. They noticed somethings strange about the basket rim on their side of the court while the players limbered up with some shooting practice. It was an hour and a half before the game was due to tip off. Coaches asked two players to corroborate their suspicions, and called Gary Payton to find out. It turned out that the basket rim was two inches higher than where it should have been positioned. They called TD Garden maintenance staff ensure that the rim was lowered to where it should be before the game started. It didn’t stop Warriors players from competing their practice and there was no disadvantage to either side once the game got underway. The Dubs ended up losing Game 3 116-100 to lead the series 2-1.
Construction on the current TD Garden began in 1993 and the arena was inaugurated in 1995. It is located at 100 Legends Way. It replaced the mythical Boston Garden, the Celtics’ home from 1928 which was demolished in 1998.