Hoiberg ploy carries no weight with IT

CELTICS NOTEBOOK

WALTHAM — Fred Hoiberg, in an apparent midseries plea to whoever officiates the rest of the first round between the Celtics and his Chicago Bulls, has accused Isaiah Thomas of carrying the ball.

Thomas was still laughing about the Chicago coach’s lament yesterday.

“I don’t know what he was trying to do there. I know I don’t carry the ball,” Thomas said after practice for tonight’s Game 5 at the Garden. “And, if I do, every other point guard and every other guard that dribbles the ball in this league carries as well. Dwyane Wade. ( Rajon) Rondo. LeBron ( James). I dribble just like everybody else.”

Thomas also acknowledged that there was likely a strategy behind Hoiberg’s comments.

“I only know one way to dribble,” he said. “I’ve been dribbling the same way my whole life. Maybe it was strategic or something. I don’t think they’ll call it. I don’t know what he was doing there. I think I’ve been called for two carries the whole year.

Thomas was actually called for the infraction three times during the regular season.

“There’s a lot of games, a lot of dribbles that I’ve made where I haven’t carried,” he said. “I don’t know what he’s trying to get at. I’m going to play the same way I know how and that’s giving it my all and doing what I need to do to get a win.”

Tensions mount

As evidenced by complaints from the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler about Marcus Smart following Game 4, the intensity in this playoff series is building.

“It’s going to be emotional but we just gotta worry about what we’re doing on the court,” Thomas said. “Worry about everybody in this locker room, we don’t worry about what they’re doing, we don’t worry about what they’re saying.”

Indeed, for more seasoned playoff veterans like Al Horford, this rise in emotion and gamesmanship is part of the postseason package.

“It’s very typical. In the playoffs you see the same guys over and over and over,” he said. “You know each other’s plays, you know what both teams are trying to do. We’re just a little tired of each other at this point. My experience has been like that in the playoffs.”

Horford was asked if he felt left out with nobody complaining about him. “No,” he said with a laugh.

Tragedy lingers

On the outside, anyway, Thomas’ spirits have picked up since returning to the team for Game 3 after a visit with his family last week, following the death of his younger sister Chyna. But his life has changed.

“Man, I’m just taking it day by day,” Thomas said. “Some days are better than others. I’m not here, man. It’s never going to be the same.”

The tragedy has had a profound effect on the team.

“More emotional from the fact of what we’ve got going as a team, as the Celtics, we’re dealing with unfortunate situations with Isaiah,” Smart said. “But this is what we do. I heard Isaiah say it: when he’s in here he’s sane. That’s everybody on this team and I’m sure it’s everybody in the league. When they’re on this court, that’s when they’re sane.”

Rondo out of cast

The prospects of a Rondo return during the series increased when he had the cast on his right arm removed. The cast has been protecting a broken thumb on his shooting hand.

Rondo took things a step further yesterday during practice, when he practiced shooting set shots. Though he won’t play in Game 5, there’s a chance he could be ready for Game 6 in Chicago.

“We had practiced on Thursday with a lot of our changes and a lot of our tweaks with the assumption he was playing,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of preparations leading into Game 3, the first missed by Rondo. “And we didn’t make any changes today.”