Boston will be fully reopen next weekend. But the Celtics and Bruins still don't know if they'll be able to fill TD Garden up to capacity.
On Thursday, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge told the other guys the team was working with the NBA to figure out a plan. "We're waiting to figure all that out," he said. "There's our state and then there's the NBA. There's all sorts of protocols and hoops to jump through. So it's pretty complicated. I'm not sure how that's going to work."
Despite loosening COVID-19 restrictions in many states, NBA commissioner Adam Silver still hasn't updated the league's attendance policy.
The NHL is operating with a similar playbook. The league has stringent requirements for airflow, preventing teams from selling out arenas. For example, even though state guidelines were lifted, the Hurricanes can still only host 12,000 fans at PNC Arena.
Regardless, the Celtics and Bruins will almost certainly be able to fill the Garden to more than 12 percent capacity. The Knicks will welcome 15,000 fans to Madison Square Garden for their playoff return. The C's would probably be content with that number.
That's still a lot of people booing Kyrie Irving.
