There were no words to describe Isaiah Thomas on Tuesday. There still aren’t.
For most of us, Tuesday was a regular day. We woke up and conducted business as usual, and we were excited because it was yet another day of NBA Playoffs. The Wizards and Celtics kicked off the night, and, after the series-opener, a competitive game was looking more and more realistic. Isaiah Thomas also woke up on Tuesday morning. For him, however, the day was far from normal. On the bright side, he was taking part in the second-round of the postseason, an exclusive club that few of his peers are part of.
That was the case for two hours and 57 minutes. For the other 21 hours and three minutes, it was a day full of agony and grief. Chyna Thomas, who got killed in a car accident just before the start of the playoffs, would’ve been 23-years-old Tuesday. Isaiah’s play this postseason has been for his sister. He’s electrified the Garden on multiple occasions and willed the Celtics back from a 2-0 deficit against the Chicago Bulls in the first round. In the first game against the Wizards, Thomas carried them to a win after starting the game in a 16-point hole.
Why should Tuesday have been any different?
John Wall occupied most of the eyeballs after dropping 19 points in the opening period. Washington lurched out to a 42-29 lead, but Thomas wasn’t far behind. He countered Wall’s 19 with 15 of his own.
Boston gained momentum in the second and capitalized on poor play from the Wizards bench and entered halftime down 67-64. They continued to hang around in the third. Outside of Wall, who put up 12 in the frame, the Celtics limited his teammates and were able to manufacture points without Thomas. He missed all four of his field goal attempts in the third, and we had a nail-biter going into the final quarter.
The only thing Washington had to do was what they did all game long — feed John Wall. Up 89-84, letting their backcourt do most of the heavy lifting was a sound gameplan. Thomas didn’t have it. He came out in the fourth rejuvenated. The smallest guy on the court was about to go Super Saiyan, and nobody was ready for it.
Layup. Triple. Triple. And-one.
In less than five minutes, Thomas poured in 11 points and tied the game at 99. From this moment on, it was no longer a Wall-Thomas duel. Instead, it was the Wizards defenders dueling with each other, and the best point guard in the East was noticeably upset with how the team failed to rally behind him. Brad Stevens ran Thomas of a series of screens on multiple possessions, and Wall got caught behind almost every single one.
The clock waned to 50 seconds. Boston was down by one. It was obvious why Thomas earned the “King of the Fourth” nickname at the start of the season, and it was time for the ball to be in his hands. Markieff Morris, who paid dividends for the Wizards, got isolated on 2011’s final draft pick.
As “let’s go Celtics” chants rained down, Thomas hits Morris with an ankle-shattering left-to-right crossover that barely tickled the twine on its way in. Morris got crossed so suddenly that putting a hand up wasn’t possible, and the fans erupted as Boston took the 112-111 lead.
The Wizards came right back with an Otto Porter triple, regaining the lead, 114-112.
After getting rejected by Wall, Thomas had less than 20 seconds to make a game-tieing (or winning) play — and the shot clock was creeping under 10. In typical fashion, he put his head down and went right at Marcin Gortat. One of the things were going to happen: Thomas would miss, he’d score or he’d get fouled. One of those is more likely than the other two. With 14.4 seconds left, Gortat was beyond perplexed that he got called for the foul.
The crowd went quiet — swish. The crowd stayed quiet — swish.
In 11:46, Thomas had recorded 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting and magically forced overtime. But his work wasn’t done. Anything less than a victory wouldn’t suffice, and, quite frankly, a loss would be puzzling. This is something that movies are made out of, and Boston had all the momentum.
Having Thomas guard Wall is a mismatch, but it works both ways. Somehow, a player who’s 5-9 is an absolute nightmare to defend. He makes smoothies out of forwards and centers, and, believe it or not, being so small has its advantages. In basketball, the lower man wins. Anatomically, Thomas has the edge because his hips are already low to the ground. That’s why it’s incredibly challenging for anyone to stay in front of him; even the quickest of guards struggle. He’s been this height for the length of his career, and he’s mastered using it to score.
As if the flurry of jumpers and constant cuts to the basket hadn’t amazed us already, Thomas had one last trick.
Morris was, yet again, switched onto Thomas. He had the ball on the right wing and went back to his left-to-right crossover. The only difference was he went right-to-left immediately after, hesitated, took one dribble and pulled up from the free throw line.
And. One.
Morris was irate after fouling him, and the fact that Thomas bobbled the ball and hoisted up a prayer that was all net probably didn’t help. The two exchanged some words. Thomas dropped in point 51 to “MVP” chants.
The clock would dip under 30 seconds for the final time. Thomas forced the crowd to rise as he dribbled downcourt with the 127-119 lead. He passed to Jae Crowder, cut backdoor and shot over Kelly Oubre from just inside the foul line. His final count was 53 points.
Since 1964, only 18 players had scored at least 50 in a playoff game. After Thomas delivered an improbable performance with a fake tooth and a heavy heart, that number became one greater.
Isaiah played one of the greatest games in postseason history, and it came with Chyna looking down on him.
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