Boston Pulls the Plug on Pre-Game Pyro - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

It's been a tough week and a half for Boston pyromaniacs. The Celtics have pulled the plug on their usual pre-game show, which includes impressive fireworks but leaves an unfortunate haze over the court that gives the arena all the charm of a dingy bowling alley (and/or John Mellancamp concert).

The smoke contributed to Ben Wallace being forced out of a game in the last series due to dizziness and was the target of an off-the-cuff rant by commissioner David Stern. And now, just a week after promising that that the show will go on, the Celtics reversed course last night and put an end to their over-the-top display, at least for the moment. From the Boston Herald:

"We're not using it tonight because we don't have time to test to try and reduce the smoke," Gotham said. "But in Game 7 (vs. the Cavs) there was more residual smoke than we were comfortable with."

"We've been talking with the league throughout about this. The league has been giving us guidance. But we're going to give it another look in this series."

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out -- pretty much every other team in the league has some sort of display without the residual smoke. Perhaps simply taking the pyrotechnics off the court and attaching them atop the backboards (like they do in Detroit) or on the scoreboard above the court (like they do in Cleveland) would do the trick.