Chuck Toomey and Frank Russo, executive directors of the Providence and Hartford Civic Centers, respectively, said they would welcome the Celtics with open arms. They both said thay had talked with [Jeff Cohen] about available scheduling dates at their arenas.

"We'd love to have the Celtics in Providence. It would be a plum for us," said Toomey. "Their coming here wouldn't pose a major problem. The colleges - Providence and Rhode Island - play their games here Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Celtics want Fridays and Sundays and those dates are available.

"We could accommodate the Celtics for all but 10 choice home dates. Of course, we'd have to discuss what to do about those other dates. It wouldn't really matter to us whether the Celtics came here on a short- or long-term basis. We'll take them either way."