On Sunday, May 15 the Boston Celtics eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks in a game 7 second round fixture in the ongoing NBA Playoffs.
The Celtics recorded a 109- 81 victory of the Bucks led by Greek player of Nigerian descent Giannis Antetokoumpo.
The Celtics now move to the Eastern Conference finals where they will face the Miami Heat.
The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat will have to Nigerians in Ime Udoka and Gabe Vincent Nnamdi do battle for their respective side.
Ime Udoka and Celtics victory
After the Celtics lost in five games to the Brooklyn Nets, Nigerian born Udoka was appointed head coach.
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Udoka replaced Brad Stevens as Celtics boss and was part of the United States of America (USA) men's basketball coaching crew to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Udoka started the season with several losses but they turned their season around at the start of the new year.
The Celtics blew apart the Kevin Durant led Brooklyn Nets in a first round sweep and have now eliminated the defending champions Milwaukee Bucks.
Udoka who is 44-years-old is a former member of the Nigerian basketball men's team (D'Tigers) to the multiple FIBA AfroBasket championships.
He was part of the D'Tigers team that won the Bronze medal at the 2005 edition in Algeria and 2011 edition in Madagascar.
Nnamdi Vincent a key for the Miami Heat
Gabe Vincent in a key player for the current D'Tigers team. The sharp shooter played a key role for the Miami Heat as they defeated the Atlanta Hawks in the first round and Joel Embiid led Philadelphia 76ers in the second round.
Vincent was part of the D'Tigers team to the 2019 FIBA Men's World Cup and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 25-year-old stepped up for the Jimmy Butler led Miami Heat as they were missing star guard Kyle Lowry for several games in the series against the 76ers.
Both Udoka and Vincent now hope to keep the Nigerian hope of winning the 2022 NBA Championship alive as they battle in the Eastern conference finals match up between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat.