National Basketball Association

Isaiah Thomas wins Eastern Conference Player of the Week

Published Mar. 4, 2015 11:06 a.m. ET

foxsports

Talk about the right way to start off with a new employer.

If Isaiah Thomas plays like this all the time, the Boston Celtics must've ripped off the steal of the century. From the NBA's most recent Player of the Week announcement:

The Boston Celtics' Isaiah Thomas and the Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard today were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Feb. 23, through Sunday, March 1.

Thomas helped the Celtics to a 3-1 week, which included wins over the Phoenix Suns and Charlotte Hornets. He placed third in the East in scoring (22.0 ppg) and tied for seventh in assists (6.5 apg). On Feb. 27, Thomas scored a season-high 28 points and dished out seven assists during the Celtics' 106-98 win over the Hornets.

Thomas' points and assists averages during his first week in green were even better than his career-high scoring and passing numbers with the Sacramento Kings last year. Of course, those were over a full season. This was over a week.

Still, Thomas is getting off on the right foot with the Celtics, even if his 38 percent shooting from the floor or 30 percent three-point accuracy during his six games in Boston are generally atrocious. I.T. has always been a chucker, but he's also always been a consistently efficient scorer, posting a 44-36-86 shooting line for his career.

(Fun fact: Thomas had the exact same true shooting percentage for each of his first three NBA seasons, 57.4 percent. This year, it's 57.2 percent. Is anyone in human history more consistent with his efficiency than Thomas? Anyone?)

Most importantly, the Celtics are winning games and amazingly find themselves only two back of the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets, who play tonight and are tied for the No. 8 seed in the East. In a six-team race for the final two Eastern Conference playoff spots, Boston is as in the hunt as anyone. If the team makes it into the postseason, Thomas is going to be a big reason for it.