Celtics Coach Will Resign

Boston Celtics Coach K.C. Jones said yesterday he will resign after the current NBA season and indicated he would be succeeded by Assistant Coach Jimmy Rodgers.

Jones' surprise announcement came one day before the Celtics meet the New York Knicks in the third game of their playoff series. Boston leads, 2-0, and can wrap the series up tonight (Ch. 56, 7:30 p.m.) with a victory at Madison Square Garden.

Jones, who led the Celtics to the NBA finals in each of his previous four years as their coach and won two of them, said, "Where do I go from here? Four years, two titles."

"I thought about it for quite a while," he added. "I'm very happy about it. It's not often one gets a chance to say, 'Well, I've done it all and I can't go any further.'"