Isaiah Thomas’ career night gave the Celtics their win of the year so far
What a performance from Isaiah Thomas at the grind house Tuesday night. And also, what an incredible Boston Celtics victory. A true gritty, physical, and defensive battle in Memphis, which is always expected.
Thomas had his best and most efficient game in a Celtics uniform going 10-16 from the field, 7-10 from 3-point range, 17-17 from the line, scoring 44 points in an overtime win. He wants all the critics to know that he is the franchise player for the Celtics. He had a killer instinct in his eyes.
via ESPN:
In scoring 44 points on just 16 field goal attempts, Thomas became only the fourth player in the past three decades to display such efficiency, according to Basketball-Reference. In the past 50 years, the only Celtics guard to score more points in a regular-season game than Thomas was the man who traded for him, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Thomas got the Celtics clutch buckets (especially down the stretch). When Mike Conley hit a big shot, Thomas would find a way to match it. Lets give Avery Bradley some credit here as well, considering he guarded Conley for the majority of the night.
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Bradley continues to show the NBA world why he is one of the best on-ball perimeter defenders in the NBA. His relentlessness on the defensive side of the ball is sometimes overlooked. By taking the job of guarding Conley, Thomas gets to conserve his energy, making him more effective on the offensive side of the ball.
Here is Isaiah Thomas on the win via ESPN:
“I’m a killa, I’m a killa,” a seemingly perspiration-free Thomas said during an on-court interview with Comcast SportsNet. “My team needed me to score, my team needed me to make plays. They got me open, Coach [Brad Stevens] put me in position to be successful, and I just took it from there.”
The Celtics are on a three game winning streak, and look to build off of their recent success against the Pacers on Thursday night. People are saying this was a signature win, it very well could be. Oh, and Christmas is right around the corner. Maybe Dany Ainge can bring DeMarcus Cousins to Boston, how amazing of a gift would that be? Cousins, Horford, and Thomas sounds pretty good.
