Thomas shifts into 4th
C’s benefit again, race past Hornets
Isaiah Thomas boosted his fourth-quarter scoring average to 10.1 points last night, retaining his position as the most prolific scorer over the final 12 minutes since the NBA started tracking the stat in 1996.
This time, Thomas scored 17 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ 108-98 win against the Charlotte Hornets at the Garden.
The C’s improved to 3-0 in their season series with Charlotte, salting away that potential playoff tiebreaker issue early. They have also won seven of their last eight games, and 13-of-16.
You would think that a player who has affixed his name more than any other this season to the fourth quarter would love that he wears No. 4. Thomas, as it turns out, prefers 11, and is thinking of changing numbers.
“I’m thinking about it. There’s just a lot of No. 4’s out there so that would probably be messed up for the people who used their money (to buy his jersey already),” Thomas said. “My favorite number has always been 11 and it’s available. So I’m thinking about it.”
Thomas originally wore No. 11 in high school. He was forced to give it up and instead wear No. 2 at the University of Washington.
“I’ll see what I’m going to do,” he said, running the risk of violating that fourth-quarter karma.
But the way Thomas has established himself this season, with the MVP chants surfacing again last night and fans wearing masks with his face, he’s reached a point that even he admits never seemed possible.
“They’re pretty cool,” Thomas said of the fans. “It just doesn’t seem real for them to be chanting M-V-P to me in the Boston Garden. It’s a feeling I can’t explain.”
It’s a feeling that his teammates may actually describe better. Kelly Olynyk, who contributed 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting and nine rebounds in a second straight strong outing, was asked if anything about Thomas surprised him at this point.
“No,” Olynyk said. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t do it. He’s a special, special player, obviously. I don’t know if there’s another person in the world right now doing what he’s doing. It’s unfathomable. You sit there and watch every night, the way he opens things up for everyone.”
Thomas shot 7-for-15 from downtown against the Hornets, setting a career high for attempted 3-pointers and coming within two of his best in makes set during his 52-point performance Dec. 12 against the Miami Heat. He also became the only Celtic other than Larry Bird in December 1984 to score 35 points without attempting a free throw.
Thomas is clearly becoming more difficult, not more predictable, to guard.
“He’s been playing better than anyone in our league,” Hornets guard Kemba Walker. “He’s playing with great confidence.”
And as the C’s continue to spread the floor with greater effect — 15-of-39 from downtown in the win — teams are finding the Thomas assignment more difficult than ever.
“It’s hard because the blitz game is impossible because they don’t roll,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said of the sight of five Celtics spread out along the 3-point arc. “If you watch the teams that try to blitz them, you’re going to give up basically layups. We had things in to get the ball out of (Thomas’) hands, but the way they played and the stuff that they usually go to late, we didn’t get to. (Thomas) made some terrific plays; he’s a terrific offensive player.”
There is naturally the danger of Thomas’ teammates becoming too reliant on his fourth-quarter act, but coach Brad Stevens didn’t sound worried.
“You know, I think that at the end of the day, there’s been enough examples of him making the right play for others, and them being the guys that have made huge plays, that we trust that the right basketball play will be made,” Stevens said. “I truly believe that there’s going to be a fourth quarter in the very near future where he has five assists and he takes one or two shots because that’s the right basketball play to be made. But again, because of the floor spacing, because of who’s around him, he’s going to have some opportunities to score and he’s a dynamic scorer.”