It was a celebration galore for the former D’ Tigers forward Ime Udoka who did not just win the qualifying match against Miami Heat but has led his team Boston Celtics to the NBA finals for the first time since twelve years ago as they overpowered a determined Miami Heat 100-96 in the game seven wins.
Boston has not performed well in their last five playoff runs and almost did so again as Jimmy Butler missed a late three-point, an attempt that would have given Miami Heat the lead.
All thanks to Ime Udoka who helped them secure victory and will now face Golden State Warriors in the finals with game one to hold in San Francisco on Thursday.
Boston Celtics led by 17 at one point in the second quarter but a fourth-quarter Flurry helped Miami repeatedly to reduce the advantage.
After Butler’s missed three-pointer, Celtics Marcus Smart who had 24 points and nine rebounds in total made two free throws to steal the long-awaited final place.
In an interactive section after the win, Ime Udoka said;
” This is a typical Celtics win”
” We fought through a lot of adversity this year. We are a resilient group and tonight seemed to signify our season. We can’t ever seem to shut the door and have to grind it out he concluded”
Udoka’s father who was of Nigerian descent, died in 2006 which made Udoka an automatic Nigerian Citizenship.
His older sister, Mfon, played in the WNBA. His mother who died in late 2011, was an American from Illinois.
Ime Udoka was a player on the Nigerian national team 2006 FIBA World Championship, Udoka led Nigeria in scoring, assists, and steals.
Udoka also played for Nigeria in the 2005 and 2011 FIBA African Championship, winning a bronze medal in both tournaments.
The African American head coach has served as an assistant coach for USA Basketball under his spurs head coach, Gregg Popovich.
His coaching role in the 2019 FIBA World cup helped him build relationships with Celtics players. Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Smart advocated for his hiring as the new head coach of the team.
Indeed we can conclude that the Ex – Nigeria Basketball Super Star can win the finals of the championship team.
