Gritty Thomas inspires Celtics
Washington, May 1: Isaiah Thomas shook off having a tooth knocked out and the heartache of his sister’s funeral to score 33 points Sunday, powering the Boston Celtics over Washington 123111 in an NBA playoff game.
Thomas went 11-of-23 from the floor, 6-of-7 from the free throw line and contributed nine assists as the Celtics battled back after surrendering the game’s first 16 points to beat the visiting Wizards in their bestof-seven Eastern Conference secondround opener.
“It was a team effort,” Thomas said. “We got down big. We didn’t give up. We didn’t put our head down. From the first guy to the last, everybody contributed and we got the win.”
The Boston guard flew across the country to play after speaking Saturday at his sister Chyna’s funeral in Washington state. She was killed two weeks ago in a car accident.
Thomas also had his left front tooth knocked out after being struck in the face by an elbow from Washington’s Otto Porter midway into the first quarter.
Thomas saw his tooth pop out and fall onto the court, but chose to carry on, leading all first-half scorers with 19 points.
The effort by Thomas left both coaches awestruck.
“I don’t know (how Thomas does it). I wish I had that kind of character,” Stevens said.
“He’s one of the biggest winners in this league. He plays with everything he has,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said.
The Celtics outscored Washington 36-16 in the third quarter, in which they seized their first lead at 73-71 and stretched it to 9580 entering the fourth before holding off the Wizards down the stretch.
Jae Crowder added 24 points for the Celtics while center Al Horford had 21 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Bradley Beal scored 27 points while John Wall added 20 points and 16 assists.
Utah trip Clippers to face Warriors
In the weekend’s only other playoff game, the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers 10491 to win their firstround Western Conference series 4-3. They will face NBA win leader and defending conference champion Golden State in the second round starting Tuesday.
At Los Angeles, Utah’s Derrick Favors came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 11 rebounds after Rudy Gobert got into early foul trouble while Gordon Hayward added 26 points as the Jazz pulled away in the third quarter to oust the Clippers from the playoffs.
The Jazz, who had not won a playoff series since 2010, led 96-80 with 5:30 remaining before the Clippers made a closing charge, pulling within 98-90 on J.J. Redick’s 3-pointer with 3:28 remaining but coming no closer.
“It was a battle,” Hayward said. “The whole series was a battle. Tonight was no different. It was fun out there though. A great win for us. We believed in ourselves. That was the biggest thing.”
DeAndre Jordan led the Clippers with 24 points and 17 rebounds.